Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—S

Seven Senses

Scared out of my seven senses. According to very ancient teaching, the soul of man, or his “inward holy body,” is compounded of the seven properties which are under the influence of the seven planets. Fire animates, earth gives the sense of feeling, water gives speech, air gives taste, mist gives sight, flowers give hearing, the south wind gives smelling. Hence the seven senses are animation, feeling, speech, taste, sight, hearing, and smelling. (See Common Sense.) (See Ecclesiastes xvii. 5.)

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
Seven Sisters
Seven Sages of Greece
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

More on Seven Senses from Fact Monster:

  • Seven Senses - Seven Senses Scared out of my seven senses. According to very ancient teaching, the soul of man, or ...
  • Common Sense - Common Sense does not mean that good sense which is common, or commonly needed in the ordinary ...
  • Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: S - Definitions, origins, and illustrative excerpts for words, phases, and literary allusions starting with "S"

Related Content
© 2000–2008 Pearson Education, publishing as Fact Monster