SENSITIVITY

sensitivity, sensitiveness

(noun) the ability to respond to affective changes in your interpersonal environment

sensitivity, sensitiveness

(noun) the ability to respond to physical stimuli or to register small physical amounts or differences; “a galvanometer of extreme sensitivity”; “the sensitiveness of Mimosa leaves does not depend on a change of growth”

sensitivity, sensitiveness, sensibility

(noun) (physiology) responsiveness to external stimuli; the faculty of sensation; “sensitivity to pain”

sensitivity, sensitiveness

(noun) sensitivity to emotional feelings (of self and others)

sensitivity, predisposition

(noun) susceptibility to a pathogen

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

sensitivity (countable and uncountable, plural sensitivities)

The quality or state of being sensitive; sensitiveness.

The ability of an organism or organ to respond to external stimuli.

(statistics) The proportion of individuals in a population that will be correctly identified in a binary classification test.

(electronics) The degree of response of an instrument to a change in an input signal.

(photography) The degree of response of a film etc. to light of a specified wavelength.

Source: Wiktionary

Sen`si*tiv"i*ty, n.

Definition: The quality or state of being sensitive; -- used chiefly in science and the arts; as, the sensitivity of iodized silver. Sensitivity and emotivity have also been used as the scientific term for the capacity of feeling. Hickok.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition