c.1340, "the part of man that is concerned with the senses," from O.Fr.
sensualité, from L.L.
sensualitatem (nom.
sensualitas) "capacity for sensation," from L.
sensualis "endowed with feeling, sensitive," from
sensus "feeling" (see
sense). Chiefly "animal instincts and appetites," hence "the lower nature regarded as a source of evil, lusts of the flesh" (1621).