INTENTION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does intention mean? 

• INTENTION (noun)
  The noun INTENTION has 3 senses:

1. an anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions

2. (usually plural) the goal with respect to a marriage proposal

3. an act of intending; a volition that you intend to carry out

  Familiarity information: INTENTION used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INTENTION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

aim; design; intent; intention; purpose

Context example:

he made no secret of his designs

Hypernyms ("intention" is a kind of...):

end; goal (the state of affairs that a plan is intended to achieve and that (when achieved) terminates behavior intended to achieve it)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "intention"):

idea; mind (your intention; what you intend to do)

cross-purpose (a contrary aim)

final cause ((philosophy) the end or purpose of a thing or process)

sake (the purpose of achieving or obtaining)

view (purpose; the phrase 'with a view to' means 'with the intention of' or 'for the purpose of')

will (a fixed and persistent intent or purpose)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(usually plural) the goal with respect to a marriage proposal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

his intentions are entirely honorable

Hypernyms ("intention" is a kind of...):

end; goal (the state of affairs that a plan is intended to achieve and that (when achieved) terminates behavior intended to achieve it)

Domain usage:

plural; plural form (the form of a word that is used to denote more than one)

Derivation:

intentional (characterized by conscious design or purpose)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An act of intending; a volition that you intend to carry out

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

my intention changed once I saw her

Hypernyms ("intention" is a kind of...):

volition; willing (the act of making a choice)

Derivation:

intend (have in mind as a purpose)

 Context examples 

How much have I to be thankful for, in Mr. Wickfield's kind intention to give me my articles, which would otherwise not lay within the umble means of mother and self!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Quincey Morris said nothing about his intention, but I knew that all night long he patrolled round and round the house.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

"You sent for me," I said, "and I am here; and it is my intention to stay till I see how you get on."

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

But Captain Tilney had at present no intention of removing; he was not to be of the party to Northanger; he was to continue at Bath.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

So he learnt to give no warning of his intention.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Sallie had urged her to do it, had offered to lend the money, and with the best intentions in life had tempted Meg beyond her strength.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

How often I stopped with the intention of returning, and yet every time my pride conquered my fear, and sent me on again until my object should be attained.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was plainly Thomas Mugridge’s intention to make me pay for those three days.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Scientists have identified special types of brain cells that may allow us to simulate the decision-making processes of others, thereby reconstructing their state of mind and predicting their intentions.

(‘Mindreading’ neurons simulate decisions of social partners, University of Cambridge)

An activity defined at a global library level that is an action whose immediate and primary intention is the alteration of the physical condition of the study subject or experimental unit.

(Defined Procedure, NCI Thesaurus)