1.The sense by which the mind, through certain nerves of the body, perceives external objects, or certain states of the body itself; that one of the five senses which resides in the general nerves of sensation distributed over the body, especially in its surface; the sense of touch; nervous sensibility to external objects. "Why was the sight To such a tender ball as the eye confined,... And not, as feeling, through all parts diffused?"
2.An act or state of perception by the sense above described; an act of apprehending any object whatever; an act or state of apprehending the state of the soul itself; consciousness. "The apprehension of the good Gives but the greater feeling to the worse."
3.The capacity of the soul for emotional states; a high degree of susceptibility to emotions or states of the sensibility not dependent on the body; as, a man of feeling; a man destitute of feeling.
4.Any state or condition of emotion; the exercise of the capacity for emotion; any mental state whatever; as, a right or a wrong feeling in the heart; our angry or kindly feelings; a feeling of pride or of humility. "A fellow feeling makes one wondrous kind." "Tenderness for the feelings of others."
5.That quality of a work of art which embodies the mental emotion of the artist, and is calculated to affect similarly the spectator.
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