Sensus huius vocabuli mihi nunc clarior est.

Sensus is nominative singular, and it is the subject of the sentence.

So the basic structure is:

• sensus = the meaning / sense
• est = is
• clarior = clearer

Together: The meaning is clearer.

A useful detail: sensus is a 4th-declension noun, so its nominative singular ends in -us, which can look like a 2nd-declension noun at first glance.

Because Latin is expressing of this word, not this word as a separate noun phrase.

• huius = of this
• vocabuli = of the word

Both are genitive singular, and together they mean of this word.

So:

• hoc vocabulum = this word
• huius vocabuli = of this word

In the sentence, sensus huius vocabuli means the meaning of this word.

It is in the genitive because Latin often uses the genitive to show the equivalent of English of.

So:

• sensus = meaning
• vocabuli = of the word

That gives sensus vocabuli = the meaning of the word.

This is a very common Latin pattern:

• amor patriae = love of country
• timor mortis = fear of death
• sensus huius vocabuli = the meaning of this word

Mihi is the dative singular of ego, and here it means to me.

Latin often uses the dative with adjectives like clarus and its comparative clarior to show to whom something is clear.

So:

• mihi clarior est = is clearer to me

This is more natural in Latin than trying to say something literally like I understand it more clearly.

Compare:

• Id mihi clarum est = That is clear to me
• Sensus huius vocabuli mihi nunc clarior est = The meaning of this word is now clearer to me

This is sometimes called the dative of reference or dative with adjectives of fitness/clarity, depending on how a grammar describes it.

Clarior is the comparative of clarus, meaning clear.

So:

• clarus = clear
• clarior = clearer

It agrees with sensus, which is masculine singular nominative.

A quick comparison:

• masculine/feminine nominative singular comparative: clarior
• neuter nominative singular comparative: clarius

Since sensus is masculine, Latin uses clarior, not clarius.

Latin comparatives do not always need an explicit than phrase.

Sometimes the comparison is just understood from context:

• clearer (than before)
• clearer (than it was to me earlier)

That is exactly what is happening here, especially because of nunc (now). The sense is:

The meaning of this word is now clearer to me
= clearer now than it was before.

So the comparison is implied, even without quam or an ablative of comparison.

Est is the 3rd person singular present of esse (to be), meaning is.

It links the subject sensus with the predicate adjective clarior:

• sensus ... clarior est = the meaning ... is clearer

This is a standard linking-verb construction.

Without est, classical Latin sometimes can still omit is in certain contexts, but here est is explicitly present and makes the sentence straightforward.

Yes. Latin word order is flexible because the endings show the grammatical roles.

This sentence is:

Sensus huius vocabuli mihi nunc clarior est.

But Latin could rearrange it in various ways without changing the core meaning, for example:

• Mihi nunc sensus huius vocabuli clarior est.
• Nunc mihi huius vocabuli sensus clarior est.
• Huius vocabuli sensus mihi nunc clarior est.

The chosen order is fairly natural and readable:

• sensus huius vocabuli gives the topic first: the meaning of this word
• mihi adds to me
• nunc adds now
• clarior est finishes with the key idea: is clearer

Latin often places an important descriptive word, like clarior, near the end for emphasis.

It means now, but in this sentence it also helps signal the implied comparison.

Because the sentence says now clearer to me, the natural understanding is:

• now clearer than before
• I understand it better now

So nunc is not just a time word; it helps explain why the comparative clarior makes sense even without an explicit than phrase.

Yes. Sensus has a range of meanings depending on context, such as:

• sense
• meaning
• feeling
• perception
• judgment

In this sentence, because it is followed by huius vocabuli (of this word), the meaning is clearly the meaning / sense of this word.

So here sensus is best understood semantically, not as physical sensation or emotion.

Yes, Latin could use verbum, but vocabulum is often especially suitable when talking about a word as a vocabulary item.

Very roughly:

• vocabulum = a word, term, vocabulary item
• verbum = a word, but also specifically a verb in grammatical contexts

So huius vocabuli neatly means of this word / term.

A learner should be aware that verbum is common too, but because verbum can also mean verb, vocabulum may avoid ambiguity in some contexts.

Because clarior is:

• nominative singular
• masculine/feminine comparative

And the noun it describes as predicate adjective is sensus, which is also nominative singular masculine.

The other nouns/pronouns do not fit:

• vocabuli is genitive singular, so it cannot be the noun agreeing with clarior
• mihi is dative singular, so it cannot be the noun agreeing with clarior

So the structure must be:

• sensus = subject
• clarior = predicate adjective describing the subject
• est = linking verb

Yes. Huius is the genitive singular form of the demonstrative hic, haec, hoc (this).

It can mean:

• of this (masculine)
• of this (feminine)
• of this (neuter)

The genitive singular form is the same for all three genders.

In this sentence it agrees with vocabuli, which is genitive singular neuter:

• huius vocabuli = of this word

So if you are learning the paradigm, this is a good example of how demonstratives must agree with the noun in case, number, and gender.

Yes. Even if the literal meaning is already clear, a few natural English renderings would be:

• The meaning of this word is clearer to me now.
• I now understand the meaning of this word better.
• This word’s meaning is clearer to me now.

The Latin itself is built around the meaning ... is clearer to me, but English often prefers a more personal version like I understand it better now.