means A physical or mental feeling produced by stimulation of the senses or the mind, or alternatively a person, event, or thing that causes widespread excited interest.

from From Latin 'sensatio,' built on 'sensus' (feeling, perception) and the verb 'sentire' (to feel, to perceive) — the same root that gives us 'sense,' 'sentiment,' and 'sentient.' It entered English through Medieval Latin and Old French around the 1600s, first meaning a bodily perception. The 'thing that causes a stir' meaning — a hit show, a scandal, an overnight star — came later, when something so striking it lit up everyone's nerves earned the same word.