intension
Americannoun
noun
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logic
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the set of characteristics or properties by which the referent or referents of a given word are determined: thus, the intension of marsupial is the set containing the characteristics suckling its young and having a pouch Compare extension
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Compare subjective intension
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a rare word for intensity determination
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a rare word for intensification See intensification
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of intension
First recorded in 1595–1605, intension is from the Latin word intēnsiōn- (stem of intēnsiō ). See intense, -ion
Explanation
Intension sounds like "intention," and it's just one letter off, but it means something else. It's a term used in logic and linguistics to refer to the concept that a word evokes. Intension is a common misspelling of intention, but the two words shouldn't be confused. If you're talking about an aim or purpose, then you want intention. Intension with an "s" should only be used in technical discussions about the meaning of language, or semantics. The intension of the word "dog" is the whole concept of dog-ness that the word brings to mind.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Despite winning the award, Wang told the outlet he had no intension of quitting his job, adding that he planned to work until he turns 60.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
"Whether HSF5 shares similar functions with other Heat Shock Factors, or exhibits entirely different functions poses an intriguing question, and addressing this question was the original intension our study." explains Professor Ishiguro.
From Science Daily ● May 1, 2024
It could be that the composer’s intension was to stir us to action rather than still us into easy apathy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 6, 2022
It's just sort of a normal white bread haircut, but it was still done with intension, as McGregor revealed:
From Salon ● Mar. 28, 2022
The meaning of a term in extension consists of the objects to which the term may be applied; its meaning in intension consists of the qualities necessarily possessed by objects bearing that name.
From The Classification of Patents by United States Patent Office
This is a type of online fraud called "cloaking", whereby malicious adverts are able to get past a social media firm's review stage because the fraudsters have hidden their intensions.
From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2024
But even those with the best of intensions are bound to slip up occasionally, especially when they’re up against extenuating circumstances.
From Slate ● Jul. 1, 2020
Hall intervened and opened the floor to discussion, much of it critical of the department and mistrustful of the committee’s intensions.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 9, 2019
Senators had difficulty keeping up with the information in a rapidly shifting week when leaders floated intensions to vote on both bills.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 20, 2017
I thanked him for his kind intensions; and assured him that I should not quit the town till I had terminated this affair, in one way or another.
From The Coquette The History of Eliza Wharton by Foster, Hannah Webster
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
