notion
English
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
Etymology
From Latin notio (“a becoming acquainted, a taking cognizance, an examination, an investigation, a conception, idea, notion”), from noscere (“to know”). Compare French notion. See know.
Pronunciation
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Audio (US) (file)
- Rhymes: -əʊʃən
Noun
notion (plural notions)
- Mental apprehension of whatever may be known or imagined; an idea; a conception; more properly, a general or universal conception, as distinguishable or definable by marks or notæ.
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- What hath been generally agreed on, I content myself to assume under the notion of principles. - Sir Isaac Newton.
- Few agree in their notions about these words. - Cheyne.
- That notion of hunger, cold, sound, color, thought, wish, or fear which is in the mind, is called the "idea" of hunger, cold, etc. - Isaac Watts.
- Notion, again, signifies either the act of apprehending, signalizing, that is, the remarking or taking note of, the various notes, marks, or characters of an object which its qualities afford, or the result of that act. - Alexander Hamilton.
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- A sentiment; an opinion.
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- The extravagant notion they entertain of themselves. - Joseph Addison.
- A perverse will easily collects together a system of notions to justify itself in its obliquity. - John Henry Newman.
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- (obsolete) Sense; mind. Shakespeare.
- (colloquial) An invention; an ingenious device; a knickknack.
- Yankee notions
- Any small article used in sewing and haberdashery, such as a button or zipper.
- (colloquial) Inclination; intention; disposition.
- I have a notion to do it.
Translations
mental apprehension of whatever may be known or imagined; an idea; a conception
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sentiment; an opinion
inclination; intention; disposition
See also
External links
- notion in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- notion in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911