intrinsic
AdjectiveOpen English WordNet
Adjective (2)
- belonging to a thing by its very nature“form was treated as something intrinsic, as the very essence of the thing — John Dewey”Synonyms: intrinsicalOpposite extrinsicSimilar built-in, innerSee also inalienable, essential
- situated within or belonging solely to the organ or body part on which it acts“intrinsic muscles”Opposite externalSimilar internal
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: L. intrinsecus inward, on the inside; intra within + secus otherwise, beside; akin to E. second: cf. F. intrinsèque. See Inter-, Second, and cf. Extrinsic.
1. Inward; internal; hence, true; genuine; real; essential; inherent; not merely apparent or accidental; — opposed to extrinsic; as, the intrinsic value of gold or silver; the intrinsic merit of an action; the intrinsic worth or goodness of a person.
He was better qualified than they to estimate justly the intrinsic value of Grecian philosophy and refinement.— Isaac Taylor
2. Anatomy Included wholly within an organ or limb, as certain groups of muscles; — opposed to extrinsic.
Intrinsic energy of a body Physics, the work it can do in virtue of its actual condition, without any supply of energy from without. — Intrinsic equation of a curve Geometry, the equation which expresses the relation which the length of a curve, measured from a given point of it, to a movable point, has to the angle which the tangent to the curve at the movable point makes with a fixed line. — Intrinsic value. See the Note under Value, noun
Synonyms: Inherent; innate; natural; real; genuine.
A genuine quality. obsolete Warburton.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54