Intuition

Picture Do you ever have a gut feeling or hunch about something? Does your body talk to you?
 
The word intuition comes from Latin tueri, tuitus (to watch over, look at) and tutorem (guardian, watcher). Latin tuitionem meant a looking after, a caring for, watching over, protection, guardianship.
 
The word intuition is formed by adding the Latin prefix in- (in) to Latin tueri to make intueri (to look inward, to consider). From this, come the later Latin nouns intuitionem and intuitio (a looking at, a consideration). By the mid-15th century the word intuicioun (insight, direct or immediate cognition, spiritual perception) is first seen in English and later written as intuition.
 
The current common use and sense of the verb ‘to intuit’ meaning to perceive directly without reasoning or to know by immediate sense perception or feeling is from 1840. A related term noumenon (from Greek noos = mind, thought), as opposed to phenomenon, is a concept introduced by Immanuel Kant in 1796 and means “that which can be the object only of a purely intellectual intuition.” A noumenon is a product or result of intuiting. [If you want more information on noumenon, noesis, the numinous, or the noetic, try Philosophy 101 next door!)
 
In sum, when we say that we trust our intuitions, we are saying that we trust some ‘inner’ watchman or guardian, our ‘inner voice’ or, perhaps, our inner tutor, guide, or coach.
 
Intuition is also related to the word tutor. Both come from Latin tueri.
 
Reference: Online Etymological Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/
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Published on October 01, 2020 16:24
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