intuition

American  

[in-too-ish-uhn, -tyoo-] / ˌɪn tuˈɪʃ ən, -tyu- /

noun

1. direct perception of truth, fact, etc., independent of any reasoning process; immediate apprehension.

2. a fact, truth, etc., perceived in this way.

3. a keen and quick insight.

4. the quality or ability of having such direct perception or quick insight.

5. Philosophy.

   1. an immediate cognition of an object not inferred or determined by a previous cognition of the same object.

   2. any object or truth so discerned.

   3. pure, untaught, noninferential knowledge.

6. Linguistics. the ability of the native speaker to make linguistic judgments, as of the grammaticality, ambiguity, equivalence, or nonequivalence of sentences, deriving from the speaker's native-language competence.

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intuition British  

/ ˌɪntjʊˈɪʃən /

noun

1. knowledge or belief obtained neither by reason nor by perception

2. instinctive knowledge or belief

3. a hunch or unjustified belief

4. philosophy immediate knowledge of a proposition or object such as Kant's account of our knowledge of sensible objects

5. the supposed faculty or process by which we obtain any of these

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Other Word Forms

• intuitional adjective
• intuitionally adverb
• intuitionless adjective

Etymology

Origin of intuition

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Late Latin intuitiōn-, stem of intuitiō “contemplation,” equivalent to Latin intuit(us), past participle of intuērī “to gaze at, contemplate” + -iō -ion; in- ², tuition

Example Sentences

We trust our intuitions when we should rely on rational calculation.

From The Wall Street Journal

As Heaney put it, Tolkien convincingly showed how the poet behind “Beowulf” arrived “at a unity of effect and a balanced order” by a “combination of creative intuition and conscious structuring.”

From The Wall Street Journal

The opposing argument begins with a simple intuition: In a society defined by self-government, as America is, there is no such thing as citizenship without consent.

From Salon

“She had always had incredible intuition when I was younger, and we’d always make jokes about her being psychic,” says Harmony.

From Los Angeles Times

AI was astonishing at cognitive tasks and solving problems it had already seen, but it struggled with the creative elements of his field, which require intuition and abstract thinking.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• hunch
• instinct