a town of France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Yonne, near the right bank of the Yonne, 70 miles S.E. of Paris. It is partially encircled by old walls, and entered by nine gates, three of which are of mediæval origin. Though a small town, it is neat and well built, with broad straight streets, which are kept clean by small brooks of water from the Vanne, an affluent of the Yonne. The principal building is the cathedral, a very magnificent specimen of the early Gothic style, remarkable for its tracery and painted glass. It contains the canonical vestments of Thomas à Becket, probably genuine, as he fled hither from the anger of Henry II. The town has also an ecclesiastical seminary, hospital, theatre, public baths, and promenades. There is a large public library, a college with a museum, and courts of law. Leather, cotton, yarn, straw-hats, woollen fabrics, hardware, candles, tiles, earthenware, &c., are manufactured here; and there is a considerable trade in corn, flour, wine, wool, hemp, timber, and manufactured articles. Sens occupies the site of the ancient Agendicum, and derived its modern name from the Senones, in whose territory it stood. Under the Romans it was the chief town of Lugdunensis Quarta, and the meeting-place of several roads. Some sculptured stones, of Roman workmanship, have been built into the walls of the town. Pop. (1856) 9869.