intension

noun /ɪnˈtɛnʃən/

1. Intensity or the act of becoming intense.

   uncountable

   Sounds […] likewise do rise and fall with the intension or remission of the wind.

2. Intensification.

   countable, uncountable

3. Any property or quality connoted by a word, phrase or other symbol, contrasted with actual instances in the real world to which the term applies.

   countable

   'Is a plant', 'has a trunk', 'has leaves' are intensions of the concept tree. Its extension is the set of all trees existing in the real world.

4. A straining, stretching, or bending; the state of being strained.

   countable, dated

   the intension of a musical string

Where it comes from

From Latin intēnsiō (“straining, effort; intensifying”), from intēnsus (“stretched”), perfect passive participle of intendō (“strain or stretch toward”).

Adapted from the Wiktionary entry intension (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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