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Origin and history of intentions

intentions(n.)

"one's purposes with regard to courtship and marriage," by 1796; see intention.

also from 1796

Entries linking to intentions

intention(n.)

late 14c., entencioun, "purpose, design, aim or object; will, wish, desire, that which is intended," from Old French entencion "intent, purpose, aspiration; will; thought" (12c.), from Latin intentionem (nominative intentio) "a stretching out, straining, exertion, effort; attention," noun of action from intendere "to turn one's attention," literally "to stretch out" (see intend). Also in Middle English "emotion, feelings; heart, mind, mental faculties, understanding."

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    More to explore

    declare
    Intransitive sense "make known one's thoughts or intentions" is by 1840. Related: Declared; declaring....
    tip
    To tip (one's) hand "reveal one's intentions" is from 1907, an image from poker-playing....
    ill
    From mid-14c. as "marked by evil intentions; harmful, pernicious."...
    candidate
    gleaming white toga (toga candida), probably whitened with fine powdered chalk, presumably to indicate the purity of their intentions...
    mean
    From late 14c. as "have intentions of a specified kind" (as in to mean well)....
    bow
    characteristic English weapon is attested in expressions such as bow-legged; to have the bent of (one's) bow "know one's intentions...
    dissemble
    early 15c., dissemblen, "assume a false seeming; conceal real facts, motives, intentions, etc.; mask the truth about oneself...
    view
    early 15c., "formal inspection or survey" (of land); mid-15c., "visual perception," from Anglo-French vewe "view," Old French veue "light, brightness; look, appearance; eyesight, vision," noun use of fem. past participle of veoir "to see," from Latin videre "to see" (from PIE roo
    aim
    c. 1300, "to estimate (number or size), calculate, count," senses now obsolete, from Old French aesmer, esmer (Old North French amer) "to value, rate; count, estimate," ultimately from Latin aestimare "appraise, determine the value of" (see esteem (v.)). The meaning in English ap
    den
    Old English denn "wild animal's lair, hollow place in the earth used by an animal for concealment, shelter, and security," from Proto-Germanic *danjan (source also of Middle Low German denne "lowland, wooded vale, den," Old English denu "valley," Old Frisian dene "down," Old High

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