It's called "feeling" because the word's origins are rooted in the act of physical perception, specifically through touch.
Etymology of "Feeling"
The term "feeling" comes from the verb "to feel," which has a traceable etymological history:
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Middle English: The word "feel" originates from the Middle English verb "felen," which primarily meant "to perceive by touch, by palpation." This referred to the physical sensation experienced when touching something.
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Expansion of Meaning: Over time, the meaning of "felen" broadened. It began to encompass perception through senses beyond touch—those not directly tied to a specific organ (like sight or hearing). This extension allowed "feeling" to represent a wider range of sensory experiences.
From Physical Sensation to Emotional Experience
The evolution of "feeling" from a purely tactile sense to an emotional one is a natural progression. Physical sensations often evoke emotional responses, and our understanding of emotions is often described in terms of physical sensations. For example, we might say we have a "gut feeling" about something, even though the feeling is an intuition, not a physical touch.
The Verbal Noun "Feeling"
The word "feeling" as we understand it today is a verbal noun. It represents the action of feeling, encompassing both:
- Physical sensation: The experience of touch, temperature, or other physical stimuli.
- Emotional state: The subjective experience of emotions like happiness, sadness, anger, or fear.
In summary, the word "feeling" is connected to how we perceive and experience the world through our senses, especially touch. The transition to also describing emotional states is based on how intrinsically tied our physical sensations are with emotional responses.
