Resentment narrowed a word family that once covered feeling more broadly.
Latin sentire meant perceive or feel. The French formation resentir described being emotionally affected, without requiring only annoyance. English resent now strongly foregrounds a negative reaction.
The older meanings overlap. This is a selected narrowing of focus, not a claim that every French use was neutral. The past tense of resend is unrelated.
Sources
- Merriam-Webster: sense
Word History glosses Latin sentire as perceive or feel.
- Merriam-Webster: resent
The entry derives resent from Middle French resentir, emotionally affected, through sentir and sentire; the modern verb has annoyance/ill-will senses.