Word of the Day Archive
Saturday February 1, 2003
introspection \in-truh-SPEK-shuhn\ , noun:
The act or process of self-examination; contemplation of one's own thoughts and feelings; a looking inward.
Bill could be harshly self-critical, while Mac -- though not oblivious of his mistakes -- had no time for introspection.
-- Kai Bird, The Color of Truth
Romanes acknowledged that to interpret an animal's thought processes this way required a heavy dose of inference from our own mental patterns, which we access through introspection.
-- Stephen Budiansky, If a Lion Could Talk
Religion absorbed Bailey, and following a period of intense introspection, he began a long quest to become a Congregationalist minister.
-- Thomas G. Dyer, Secret Yankees
Introspection derives from the past participle of Latin introspicere, "to look inside," from intro-, "to the inside" + specere, "to look."
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for introspection
