mid-14c., "the part of man that is concerned with the senses," from Old French sensualite "the five senses; impression," from Late Latin sensualitatem (nominative sensualitas) "capacity for sensation," from Latin sensualis "endowed with feeling, sensitive," from sensus "feeling" (see sense, n.). Chiefly "animal instincts and appetites," hence "the lower nature regarded as a source of evil, lusts of the flesh" (1620s).