instinct

¹

[in-stingkt]

noun

1. an inborn pattern of activity or tendency to action common to a given biological species.

2. a natural or innate impulse, inclination, or tendency.

3. a natural aptitude or gift.

   an instinct for making money.

   Synonyms: talent, faculty, knack, genius

4. natural intuitive power.

instinct

²

[in-stingkt]

adjective

1. filled or infused with some animating principle (usually followed bywith ).

   instinct with life.

2. Obsolete.,  animated by some inner force.

instinct

noun

1. the innate capacity of an animal to respond to a given stimulus in a relatively fixed way

2. inborn intuitive power

3. a natural and apparently innate aptitude

adjective

1. rare

   1. animated or impelled (by)

   2. imbued or infused (with)

instinct

1. An inherited tendency of an organism to behave in a certain way, usually in reaction to its environment and for the purpose of fulfilling a specific need. The development and performance of instinctive behavior does not depend upon the specific details of an individual's learning experiences. Instead, instinctive behavior develops in the same way for all individuals of the same species or of the same sex of a species. For example, birds will build the form of nest typical of their species although they may never have seen such a nest being built before. Some butterfly species undertake long migrations to wintering grounds that they have never seen. Behavior in animals often reflects the influence of a combination of instinct and learning. The basic song pattern of many bird species is inherited, but it is often refined by learning from other members of the species. Dogs that naturally seek to gather animals such as sheep or cattle into a group are said to have a herding instinct, but the effective use of this instinct by the dog also requires learning on the dog's part. Instinct, as opposed to reflex, is usually used of inherited behavior patterns that are more complex or sometimes involve a degree of interaction with learning processes.

instinct

1. Behavior that is not learned but passed between generations by heredity.

Word History and Origins

Origin of instinct¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin instinctus “prompting, instigation, enthusiasm,” noun use of past participle of insting(uere) “to excite, incite, rouse,” from in- in- ² + -stinguere, presumably, “to prick, mark by pricking” ( distinct, instigate )

Origin of instinct²

First recorded in 1530–40; from Latin instinctus “excited, inspired,” past participle of instinguere “to excite, incite, rouse”; instinct ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of instinct¹

C15: from Latin instinctus roused, from instinguere to incite; compare _instigate

Example Sentences

But we live now at the intersection of presidential instinct and personal caprice.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"But once you step out on the field, your competitive instincts kick in and you just lock into the contest."

Read more on BBC

By all means, follow your own instincts — not mine and/or your adviser’s — by putting this $200,000 in a seven-year Treasury or CD ladder.

Read more on MarketWatch

The instinct that pairs chèvre with strawberries is the same one that tells you to finish a bowl of lentils with lemon juice, or to scatter pickled shallots over roast chicken.

Read more on Salon

Subsequent moralizing about nuclear weapons, often by the scientists developing them, pales before Roosevelt’s willingness to act on his gut instinct.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• aptitude 
• feeling 
• hunch 
• impulse 
• inclination 
• intuition 
• knack 
• savvy 
• sense 
• sentiment 
• talent 
• tendency