Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Sentence \Sen"tence\, n. [F., from L. sententia, for sentientia,
   from sentire to discern by the senses and the mind, to feel,
   to think. See {Sense}, n., and cf. {Sentiensi}.]
   1. Sense; meaning; significance. [Obs.]

            Tales of best sentence and most solace. --Chaucer.

            The discourse itself, voluble enough, and full of
            sentence.                             --Milton.

   2.
      (a) An opinion; a decision; a determination; a judgment,
          especially one of an unfavorable nature.

                My sentence is for open war.      --Milton.

                That by them [Luther's works] we may pass
                sentence upon his doctrines.      --Atterbury.
      (b) A philosophical or theological opinion; a dogma; as,
          Summary of the Sentences; Book of the Sentences.

   3. (Law) In civil and admiralty law, the judgment of a court
      pronounced in a cause; in criminal and ecclesiastical
      courts, a judgment passed on a criminal by a court or
      judge; condemnation pronounced by a judgical tribunal;
      doom. In common law, the term is exclusively used to
      denote the judgment in criminal cases.

            Received the sentence of the law.     --Shak.

   4. A short saying, usually containing moral instruction; a
      maxim; an axiom; a saw. --Broome.

   5. (Gram.) A combination of words which is complete as
      expressing a thought, and in writing is marked at the
      close by a period, or full point. See {Proposition}, 4.

   Note: Sentences are simple or compound. A simple sentence
         consists of one subject and one finite verb; as, ``The
         Lord reigns.'' A compound sentence contains two or more
         subjects and finite verbs, as in this verse: 

               He fills, he bounds, connects, and equals all.
                                                  --Pope.

   {Dark sentence}, a saving not easily explained.

            A king . . . understanding dark sentences. --Dan.
                                                  vii. 23.