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.

---

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

---

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

"My intuition is this will have a lasting impact… because of the safety perception you have in your mind," says Johannes Thomas, chief executive of the travel specialist Trivago.

From BBC

Hesai deserves some credit for its innovation capabilities, given its strong technological intuition, the analysts say.

From The Wall Street Journal

What it does is it brings your intuition in line with your intellect.”

From Los Angeles Times

When we canceled tour dates at the very beginning of it, people were so sad, and my wife’s intuition was like, “You should let them know you’re OK.”

From Los Angeles Times

“I don’t like any of the words: women’s intuition, a gut feeling. But you left France early. Before the end of the war. And you came with that recommendation. From him.”

From Literature

Related Words

• hunch
• instinct