intention French · revision 16762

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1119, Philippe de Thaon (entenciun)|origins=la tendō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɛ̃.tɑ̃.sjɔ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''intention''' ''f'' (plural intentions)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''entenciun'' (1119), ''entancion'' (1176); ''intencion'' from about 1180, with the prefix remade after Latin.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|intentiō|t=stretching; attention; purpose; intensity]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|4, 747a) formed on the supine of [[m|la|intendō|t=to stretch towards; to direct the mind]] (see [[entendre]]), itself from [[m|la|tendō|t=to stretch]] (see [[tendre]]).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) In scholastic Latin the noun meant the application of the mind to an object and the content of a thought, the source of the philosophical sense.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Wiktionary describes it as inherited from Old French [[m|fro|entencion]], respelled after Latin in Middle French.^(Wiktionary) Compare [[pro|entencio]], [[es|intención]] and [[it|intenzione]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Philippe de Thaon's ''Comput'' (1119) has ''entenciun'' in the sense “understanding, opinion”, which has disappeared.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Chrétien de Troyes (''Cligès'', 1176) uses it in the Latin sense “the fact of setting oneself an aim”, which remains alive; from it came ''à l'intention de'' “for, in honour of” (mid-15th century), often with a religious background, and ''en l'intention que'' (1546), lost after the 17th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The scholastic sense is in Bonivard (1563, ''première intention''), and Husserl's translators use it in phenomenology (1931).^(TLFi)

+

+ Paré (1572) uses it in surgery for drawing the lips of a wound together.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Direction d'intention'' (Pascal, 1656) belonged to the quarrel between Jesuits and Jansenists.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) From the 17th century the word means the aim one sets oneself and, in the 18th century, a firm and premeditated design, ''l'enfer est pavé de bonnes intentions'' is recorded by Littré (1867), after Furetière's ''l'enfer est plein de bonnes intentions'' (1690).^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1119 – ''Entenciun'' “understanding”, Philippe de Thaon.^(TLFi)

+ * 1176 – “Purpose”, Chrétien de Troyes's ''Cligès''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1180 – The spelling ''intencion''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1563 – Scholastic ''première intention''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1572 – Surgical sense, Paré.^(TLFi)

+ * 1656 – ''Direction d'intention'', Pascal.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – ''L'enfer est plein de bonnes intentions'', Furetière.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|intention]], purpose, design: ''avoir l'intention de'', ''c'est l'intention qui compte'', ''l'enfer est pavé de bonnes intentions''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(law)'' The conscious will to commit a prohibited act: ''l'intention de nuire''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''À l'intention de'': for, intended for; in honour of.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Procès d'intention'': judging someone on presumed motives.^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(philosophy)'' The directing of the mind towards an object.^(TLFi)

+ # ''(surgery)'' ''Réunion par première intention'': healing of a wound by direct union of its edges.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[intentionné]]

+ * [[malintentionné]]

+ * [[intentionnel]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[entendre]]

+ * [[tendre]]

+ * [[intense]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}