intention
Syllables: in·ten·tion/ɪnˈtɛnʃn̩/
intention noun: a course of action that a person intends to follow.
Noun
intention (countable and uncountable, plural intentions)
- A course of action that a person intends to follow.
- My intention was to marry a wealthy widow.
- Hell is paved with good intentions.
- A goal or purpose.
- The intention of this legislation is to boost the economy.
- Though most of the cases here cover European encounters with non-Europeans, it is not the intention of the book to give the impression that genocide is a function of European colonialism and imperialism alone.2008 June 1, A. Dirk Moses, “Preface”, in Empire, Colony, Genocide: Conquest, Occupation, and Subaltern Resistance in World History, Berghahn Books, →ISBN, page x
- Tension; straining, stretching.
- cold in those inner parts, cold belly, and hot liver, causeth crudity, and intention proceeds from perturbations […]., I.iii.3
- A stretching or bending of the mind toward an object or a purpose (an intent); closeness of application; fixedness of attention; earnestness.
- it is attention: when the mind with great earnestness, and of choice, fixes its view on any idea, considers it on all sides, and will not be called off by the ordinary solicitation of other ideas, it is that we call intention or study1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter 2, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC, book I, page 19
- The object toward which the thoughts are directed; end; aim.
- In a Word, the most part of chronical Distempers proceed from Laxity of Fibres; in which Case the principal Intention is to restore the Tone of the solid Parts; […].1732, John Arbuthnot, An Essay Concerning the Nature of Ailments …, Prop. II, p.159
- Any mental apprehension of an object.
- A process of the healing of a wound.
- When healing occurs by primary intention, the wound is basically closed with all areas of the wound connecting and healing simultaneously.2007, Carie Ann Braun, Cindy Miller Anderson, Pathophysiology: Functional Alterations in Human Health, page 49
Verb
intention (third-person singular simple present intentions, present participle intentioning, simple past and past participle intentioned)
- To intend.
intention meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
intention in Hindi
- course intended to follow
- अभिप्राय abhiprāy, इच्छा icchā, उद्देश्य uddeśya, विवक्षिता vivakṣitā, इरादा irādā, नीयत nīyat
- the goal or purpose
- उद्देश्य uddeśya, प्रयोजन prayojan, लक्ष्य lakṣya
intention in Tamil
- course intended to follow
- எண்ணம் eṇṇam
intention in Marathi
- intention, aim
- अर्थ artha
- intention, desire
- मन man
intention in Urdu
- course intended to follow
- اِرادَہ irāda, نِیَّت niyyat, قَصْد qasd
- the goal or purpose
- نِیَّت niyyat
More languagesFewer languages
- intention in Bengali
- উদ্দেশ্য uddeśśo, মকসদ mokśod, ইরাদা irada, নিয়ত niẏot
- intention in Malayalam
- ഉദ്ദേശം uddēśaṁ, ഭാവം bhāvaṁ, ലക്ഷ്യം lakṣyaṁ, ഉന്നം unnaṁ
- intention in Kannada
- ಉದ್ದೇಶ uddēśa
- intention in Punjabi
- ਮੁੱਦਾ muddā, من man, روح rūḥ
- intention in Sanskrit
- अभिप्राय abhiprāya, उद्देश्य uddeśya
- intention in Assamese
- কথা kotha, মন mon
- intention in Pashto
- قصد qasd, اراده erāda
- intention in Arabic
- قَصْد qaṣd, إِرَادَة ʔirāda, نِيَّة niyya
- intention in Malay
- niat
- intention in Indonesian
- niat
- intention in Thai
- ความตั้งใจ kwaam-dtâng-jai, เจตนา jèet-dtà-naa, ความจำนง kwaam-jam-nong
- intention in Vietnamese
- ý định
- intention in Myanmar
- အကြံ a.kram
Examples of intention in a sentence
- “I may say if your intentions were known your life would not be worth a curse.”1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
- It had been his intention to go to Wimbledon, but as he himself said: “Why be blooming well frizzled when you can hear all the results over the wireless.1935, George Goodchild, chapter 3, in Death on the Centre Court:
Synonyms of intention
Antonyms
Forms of intention
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | intentions |
| alternative form (obsolete) | entention |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | intentions |
| present participle | intentioning |
| past participle | intentioned |
| past | intentioned |
Origin of intention
From Middle English entencioun, intention, from Old French entencion, from Latin intentiō, intentiōnem. Compare intent. Equivalent to intent + -ion.
Words formed from intention
Phrases with intention
Words that rhyme with intention
- dimension
- tension
- pension
- indention
- intervention
- recension
- condescension
- descension
- gentian
- mention
- resuspension
- advention
1 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about intention
- What does intention mean?
- Intention means a course of action that a person intends to follow.
- What is intention in Hindi?
- Intention in Hindi is अभिप्राय (abhiprāy), इच्छा (icchā), उद्देश्य (uddeśya). See Intention meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use intention in a sentence?
- “I may say if your intentions were known your life would not be worth a curse.”
- What part of speech is intention?
- Intention can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce intention?
- Intention is pronounced /ɪnˈtɛnʃn̩/.
- What is the plural of intention?
- The plural of intention is intentions.
Words near intention in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: intention (page history and authors); अर्थ (Marathi) (page history and authors); ഉദ്ദേശം (Malayalam) (page history and authors); ಉದ್ದೇಶ (Kannada) (page history and authors); روح (Punjabi) (page history and authors); কথা (Assamese) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-intention.ogg.
Cite this entry: “intention.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/intention. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.