NOTION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does notion mean? 

• NOTION (noun)
  The noun NOTION has 4 senses:

1. a vague idea in which some confidence is placed

2. a general inclusive concept

3. an odd or fanciful or capricious idea

4. (usually plural) small personal articles or clothing or sewing items

  Familiarity information: NOTION used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NOTION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A vague idea in which some confidence is placed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

belief; feeling; impression; notion; opinion

Context example:

I had a feeling that she was lying

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

idea; thought (the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about)

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

presence (the impression that something is present)

effect (an impression (especially one that is artificial or contrived))

first blush (at the first glimpse or impression)

hunch; intuition; suspicion (an impression that something might be the case)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A general inclusive concept

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

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

concept; conception; construct (an abstract or general idea inferred or derived from specific instances)

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

mumpsimus (a traditional notion that is obstinately held although it is unreasonable)

Derivation:

notional (being of the nature of a notion or concept)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An odd or fanciful or capricious idea

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

notion; whim; whimsey; whimsy

Context example:

whimsy can be humorous to someone with time to enjoy it

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

idea; thought (the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about)

Sense 4

Meaning:

(usually plural) small personal articles or clothing or sewing items

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

buttons and needles are notions

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

article (one of a class of artifacts)

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

ribbon (notion consisting of a narrow strip of fine material used for trimming)

 Context examples 

I scarcely think the notion that flittered across my brain was an error.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Miss Bennet's lovely face confirmed his views, and established all his strictest notions of what was due to seniority; and for the first evening she was his settled choice.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

I suppose, now, when you went into that room there was no such notion in your head—what?

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I think differently now; time and sickness and sorrow have given me other notions; but at that period I must own I saw nothing reprehensible in what Mr Elliot was doing.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

I say it is no bad notion.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Well, I don't know that fifty is much for a dress, with all the furbelows and notions you have to have to finish it off these days.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The study reinforced this notion by testing the day/night cycles of mice under different feeding schedules.

(Eating at 'Wrong Time' Affects Body Weight, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

That Gladbachus reconstruction model runs counter to some long-held notions in marine paleobiology.

(Ancient sharks likely more diverse than previously thought, National Science Foundation)

And it would be hard indeed, if so remote a prince’s notions of virtue and vice were to be offered as a standard for all mankind.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The data argues against the notion that a thick atmosphere and winds are moving heat around the planet as previously thought.

(Spitzer Maps Climate Patterns on a Super-Earth, NASA)