känsla

Känsla is a Swedish noun that denotes a subjective experience of emotion or physical sensation, and more generally a sense or impression about something. In everyday language it covers emotional states, bodily feelings, and intuitive or aesthetic impressions. The plural form känslor refers to specific emotions, while känsla in singular often carries a broader nuance, such as a single mood or a general impression.

Känsla can denote several related meanings:

- emotional state: happiness, sadness, anger, anxiety.

- physical sensation: pain, warmth, nausea, tingling.

- intuition or impression: a sense that something is right or wrong; en känsla av oro.

- aesthetic or stylistic sense: en känsla för färg, stil eller rytm.

In psychology and everyday usage, distinctions are sometimes made between emotion, affect, and sensation. Känsla emphasizes the subjective experience, whereas physiology describes the bodily processes behind it. The phrase det känns is used to express current experience: it feels good, det känns fel, etc.

Etymology traces back to känna, meaning to feel; the noun form marks a state or quality of feeling and is related to the idea of familiarity or knowledge gained through experience. See also känslor, emotion, perception.