Word of the Day: PROPRIOCEPTION
Spatial orientation
proprioception (noun) - a body’s conscious or unconscious awareness of its own position, movement, and orientation in space; kinesthesia [proh-pree-uh-sep-shuhn]
BREAKDOWN: PROPRI- (proper) + CEPT- (to take or hold) + -ION (act or state)
proprioceptive means of, pertaining to, or initiating stimuli within a body or awareness of such
See also: inception, impropriety, precept
“Our other senses – the five senses – are open and obvious; but this–our hidden sense–had to be discovered, as it was, by Sherrington, in the 1890s. He named it ‘proprioception’, to distinguish it from ‘exteroception’ and ‘interoception’, and, additionally, because of its indispensability for our sense of ourselves; for it is only by courtesy of proprioception, so to speak, that we feel our bodies as proper to us, as our ‘property’, as our own.” —Oliver Sacks
[Fun Word Friday introduces more advanced or technical words that are based on word roots. Yes, these words may still be tested on standardized exams. Try to use this word in a sentence today!]