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intensive

Etymology and origin of the English word intensive

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
mid-15th century
Borrowed from
Old French intensif
Ultimate origin
Medieval Latin (intensivus)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɪnˈtɛnsɪv/[1]

Etymology

It is late Middle English, borrowed from Old French intensif, with Medieval Latin intēnsīvus,[2][3][4] from Latin intēns-, past participle stem of intendere, to turn one's attention, strain, stretch (see intend, intense).[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Intense, fervent, great: the mid-15th century in Etymonline;[2] the OED's first quotation for this sense, now obsolete, is from 1526.[6]

Semantic evolution

Strained, earnest, is from 1605,[6] and relating to intensity or degree from 1604.[6] The grammatical sense, expressing intensity, is from about 1600 (1608 in the OED),[2][6] and the noun, a word that gives emphasis, from 1813.[2][3] In economics, methods of cultivation or fishing that raise the yield of a given area are intensive from 1832,[6] and the suffix use in labour-intensive and capital-intensive is from 1957.[6] Intensive care is attested from 1958.[2] Intensitive is a malformation.[2]

Timeline

  • mid-15th century – intense.[2]
  • 1608 – intensifying (grammar).[6]
  • 1813 – the noun.[2]
  • 1832 – intensive cultivation.[6]
  • 1957 – labour-intensive.[6]
  • 1958 – intensive care.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Involving great effort or concentrated use of resources, often in a short time: an intensive course.
  2. Of farming, increasing the yield of a fixed area by using more labour or capital.
  3. Using a large amount of a factor, as in labour-intensive.
  4. (grammar) Giving force or emphasis.

Noun

  1. (grammar) A word, such as extremely, that gives emphasis.

Word family

  • intensively
  • intensiveness
  • unintensive
  • capital-intensive
  • labor-intensive
  • intensive care
  • intensive care unit

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Intensive.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/intensive. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·