nous

[noos, nous]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR nous ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Greek Philosophy. mind or intellect.

Neoplatonism. the first and purest emanation of the One, regarded as the self-contemplating order of the universe.

Origin of nous

1670–80; < Greek noûs, contracted variant of nóos mind

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for nous

commonsense, faculties, senses, wits

Examples from the Web for nous

Historical Examples of nous

"Nous allong—" began Rose, meekly; but she was cut short in her repetition.
Hildegarde's Holiday
Laura E. Richards
Why, I've been the secret wolf he never had the nous to guess at!
The La Chance Mine Mystery
Susan Carleton Jones
I cried, as I realised that it was the other end Jack Penny had had the nous to lower at once.
Bunyip Land
George Manville Fenn
It is needless to say, that now "Nous avons chang tout cela."
Early Western Travels 1748-1846, v. 27
Various
We find423 connected the terms "nous" and "phronsis," also "anastasis."
Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 4
Plotinos (Plotinus)

British Dictionary definitions for nous

nous

noun

metaphysics mind or reason, esp when regarded as the principle governing all things

British slang common sense; intelligence

Word Origin for nous

C17: from Greek, literally: mind

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for nous

slang for "intelligence, common sense," 1706, from Greek nous, Attic form of noos "mind, intellect," which was taken in English in philosophy 1670s.