intention English · revision 5927

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1340|origins=la intentio}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɪnˈten.ʃən/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English entencioun, intencioun, [[bor|fro|entencion|t=intent, purpose; will; thought]] (modern French intention),^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)^(Klein 1966) from [[la|intentiō|t=a stretching out, straining, exertion; attention]] (accusative intentionem),^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) a noun of action from [[m|la|intendere|t=to turn one's attention]], literally “to stretch out” (see [[intend]]).^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) It is a doublet of [[intension]].^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The faculty of understanding: 1340 in the OED;^(OED 1989) purpose, design or aim in the late 14th century, 1375 in the OED.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle English intention also meant emotion and feelings, the heart or mind and understanding.^(Etymonline) The meaning or significance of something is from 1387–88,^(OED 1989) and the concentration of the mind on something from about 1400.^(OED 1989) An ultimate aim is from about 1410.^(OED 1989) In the plural, colloquially, a man's purposes towards a proposal of marriage are from 1751.^(OED 1989)^(AHD) In literary criticism the aim a critic detects in a writer's work is from 1946.^(OED 1989) In medicine, healing ''by first intention'', the natural closing of a wound, is another sense.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1340 – understanding.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1375 – a purpose, design.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1400 – concentration of mind.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1410 – an ultimate aim.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1751 – intentions towards marriage.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1946 – in literary criticism.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Something one means to do; an aim or [[purpose]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(plural)'' One's aims with respect to marriage: ''honourable intentions''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(law)'' The purpose with which a person acts, a necessary element of some offences.^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(medicine)'' A natural process of healing, as of a wound.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[intentionless]]

+ * [[misintention]]

+ * [[subintention]]

+ * [[intentional]]

+ * [[well-intentioned]]

+ * [[secondary intention]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[intend]]

+ * [[intent]]

+ * [[intension]]

+ * [[intense]]

+ * [[tend]]

+ * [[attention]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The AHD distinguishes intention from intent, purpose, goal, end, aim, object and objective: intention simply names a course of action one proposes to follow, intent implies more deliberateness, purpose adds resolution, goal may suggest an idealistic or remote purpose, end a long-range goal, aim the direction of one's efforts, object an end one tries to carry out, and objective often an end that can be reached.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}