intrinsic

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English intrinsique (“inner”),^[2][3] borrowed from French intrinsèque (“inner, internal”),^{[4][5][3][6][7]} which the OED finds in French in the 13th–14th century;^[4] Barnhart calls the French source Middle French and Etymonline Old French.^[3][5] The French word is a learned borrowing of Medieval Latin intrinsecus (“interior, internal”), an adjective of the medieval Scholastic philosophers,^[4][3][5] from the classical Latin intrinsecus (“on the inside, inwardly”), an adverb.^[4][5][8] The Latin adverb is formed from *intrim (“inward”), an unrecorded derivative of intrā (“within”),^[8][3] and secus (“alongside, beside”),^[8][5][9] which is related to sequor (“to follow”);^[3][10][11] Etymonline, after Watkins, traces secus to Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to follow”).^[5] The ending was treated as the suffix -ic from the first, according to the OED, although the etymological spellings in “-eque” and “-eck” still occur in the 17th century;^[4][6] Etymonline says the English form was brought into line with the words in -ic by the 18th century.^[5] The opposite extrinsic was formed in exactly the same way, with extrā (“outside”).^[8][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Situated within; interior, inner: 1490, in Caxton's translation of the Eneydos,^[4][3] which in the same year also has the figurative sense "inward, internal; secret, private".^[4][12]

Semantic evolution

The concrete sense "inner, interior" came with the word from French,^[8] but it fell out of general use after the 17th century (the OED's last record is from 1665);^[4][12] since 1839 it has survived as a term of anatomy for a muscle or nerve that lies wholly within the organ it acts on.^[4][8][6] The figurative "inward, private" lasted until 1689 and passed into the abstract sense, and the word briefly meant "intimate" (1613–1651).^[4][12] The abstract sense, belonging to a thing by its very nature, inherent or essential, is first recorded in 1642, in J. Howell,^[4][3][5] and has become the main meaning.^[8] Later technical uses include the intrinsic equation of a curve in mathematics (1849), the intrinsic factor of the gastric juice that allows vitamin B12 to be absorbed (1930), and in physics an intrinsic semiconductor, one that conducts by the electrons of its own main substance (1933).^[4] From 1665 to 1751 intrinsic was also a noun, an inmost part or an intrinsic quality.^[4][13]

Timeline

• 1490 – situated within, inner; inward, secret (both now obsolete).^[4][3]
• 1613 – intimate (obsolete by 1651).^[4][12]
• 1642 – belonging to a thing by its nature, inherent, essential.^[4][3][5]
• 1665 – noun, an inmost part, an intrinsic quality (obsolete by 1751).^[4][12]
• 1839 – in anatomy, of a muscle lying wholly within an organ.^[4][12]
• 1849 – in mathematics, the intrinsic equation of a curve.^[4]
• 1933 – in physics, of a semiconductor.^[4][12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Belonging to the essential nature of a thing, not given to it from outside; inherent: The old coin has little intrinsic value beyond its silver.^{[13][11][2][4]}
2. (anatomy) Lying wholly within, or belonging only to, the organ or body part on which it acts, as certain muscles and nerves.^[11][2][4]
3. (physics) Of a semiconductor: conducting electricity by the electrons of its own main substance, not those of added impurities.^[4]
4. (obsolete, 1490–1665) Situated within; interior, inner.^[4][7]

Noun

1. (obsolete, 1665–1751) An intrinsic quality.^[13][4]

Word family

• intrinsically

Related words

• extrinsic
• interior
• sequel
• second
• intra-

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ a b c d e f g Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
13. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster