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View synonyms for intention

intention

[ in-ten-shuhn ]

noun

  1. an act or instance of determining mentally upon some action or result.
  2. the end or object intended; purpose.

    Synonyms: goal

  3. intentions,
    1. purpose or attitude toward the effect of one's actions or conduct:

      a bungler with good intentions.

    2. purpose or attitude with respect to marriage:

      Our friends are beginning to ask what our intentions are.

  4. the act or fact of intending.
  5. Logic.
    1. Also called first intention, reference by signs, concepts, etc., to concrete things, their properties, classes, or the relationships among them.
    2. Also called second intention, reference to properties, classes, or the relationships among first intentions.
  6. Surgery, Medicine/Medical. a manner or process of healing, as in the healing of a lesion or fracture without granulation healing by first intention or the healing of a wound by granulation after suppuration healing by second intention.
  7. meaning or significance:

    The intention of his words was clear.

  8. the person or thing meant to benefit from a prayer or religious offering.
  9. Archaic. intentness.


intention

/ ɪnˈtɛnʃən /

noun

  1. a purpose or goal; aim

    it is his intention to reform

  2. law the resolve or design with which a person does or refrains from doing an act, a necessary ingredient of certain offences
  3. med a natural healing process, as by first intention , in which the edges of a wound cling together with no tissue between, or by second intention , in which the wound edges adhere with granulation tissue
  4. usually plural design or purpose with respect to a proposal of marriage (esp in the phrase honourable intentions )
  5. an archaic word for meaning intentness


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Other Words From

  • in·tention·less adjective
  • misin·tention noun
  • prein·tention noun
  • subin·tention noun

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Word History and Origins

Origin of intention1

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English intencio(u)n, from Latin intentiōn- (stem of intentiō ). See intent 2, -ion

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Synonym Study

Intention, intent, purpose all refer to a wish that one means to carry out. Intention is the general word: His intention is good. Intent is chiefly legal or literary: attack with intent to kill. Purpose implies having a goal or determination to achieve something: Her strong sense of purpose is reflected in her studies.

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Example Sentences

He’s allowing that perhaps the prosecutors mean well, but as the Lewis quote suggests, even those good intentions can give way to overzealousness.

Survey respondents also indicated a corresponding intention to spend more with small businesses.

Custom affinity audiences with keywords will convert to “People with any of these interests or purchase intentions,” as will Display custom intent audiences.

And, yes, you can create an intention to meditate, drink more water, and start journaling.

From Fortune

Of course, the model has no intention to deceive or convince.

My intention is to make it with the same approach as Anchorman 2.

One morning at about eleven, he announces his intention as though it's truly an unusual thought: “Let's have a little drink.”

“The intention is to create a 21st century auction house,” Gilkes says.

“Hollywood dilutes material to a level I have no interest in, or intention following,” Wiseman says firmly.

One reason for withholding information was the president had no intention of shutting down the initiative.

The two women had no intention of bathing; they had just strolled down to the beach for a walk and to be alone and near the water.

There is more of artfulness in the flatteries which appear to involve a calculating intention to say the nice agreeable thing.

However this be, it is hard to say that these fibs have that clear intention to deceive which constitutes a complete lie.

It was never the intention of the Federal Reserve Act that member banks should continue the maintenance of these reserve accounts.

Was she merely an egoist—it ran in the family—or did it conceal much that she had no intention of revealing?

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