sententiam

Sententiam is the accusative singular form of the Latin noun sententia, which broadly means opinion, judgment, decision, or sentence. The root is the verb sentire, to feel or think, and the term spans several related senses: a personal opinion; a formal judgment or verdict in a legal or scholastic context; and in rhetoric or moral philosophy, a concise maxim or saying.

In classical Latin texts, sententia could refer to a legal sentence or to a reasoned judgment in a debate. In rhetorical and philosophical usage, it also denoted a short, authoritative maxim or general truth—an apothegm or sententia used to illustrate or support an argument. The term thus covers both practical determinations (such as a court’s ruling) and quotable propositions or morals.

Grammatical notes include that sententiam is the accusative singular of sententia; the nominative singular is sententia, the genitive sententiae, the dative sententiae, and the ablative sententia. The plural form sententiae is used for both the nominative plural (sententiae) and the dative/ablative plural in some constructions, and it can also refer to a collection of maxims in rhetorical contexts.

In English scholarship, the word appears most often in the Latin form sententia or in the anglicized term sententiae, sometimes translated as “sentence,” “judgment,” or “maxim.” The specific sense depends on context—legal, philosophical, or rhetorical—with the form sententiam identifying the direct object of a verb in Latin sentences.