What does attention mean?
Definitions for attention
əˈtɛn ʃən; əˌtɛnˈʃʌnat·ten·tion
Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word attention.
Princeton's WordNet
attention, attendingnoun
the process whereby a person concentrates on some features of the environment to the (relative) exclusion of others
care, attention, aid, tendingnoun
the work of providing treatment for or attending to someone or something
"no medical care was required"; "the old car needs constant attention"
attentionnoun
a general interest that leads people to want to know more
"She was the center of attention"
attentionnoun
a courteous act indicating affection
"she tried to win his heart with her many attentions"
attentionnoun
the faculty or power of mental concentration
"keeping track of all the details requires your complete attention"
attentionnoun
a motionless erect stance with arms at the sides and feet together; assumed by military personnel during drill or review
"the troops stood at attention"
Wiktionary
attentionnoun
Mental focus.
Please direct your attention to the following words.
attentionnoun
An action or remark expressing concern for or interest in someone or something, especially romantic interest.
attentionnoun
A state of alertness in the standing position.
The company will now come to attention.
attentioninterjection
Used as a command to bring soldiers to the attention position.
Etymology: From attencioun, from attentio, from attendere, past participle attentus; see attend.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
Attentionnoun
The act of attending or heeding; the act of bending the mind upon any thing.
Etymology: attention, Fr.
They say the tongues of dying men
Inforce attention like deep harmony. William Shakespeare, Richard II.He perceived nothing but silence, and signs of attention to what he would further say. Francis Bacon, Holy War.
But him the gentle angel by the hand
Soon rais’d, and his attention thus recall’d. Par. Lost, b. xi.By attention the ideas, that offer themselves, are taken notice of, and, as it were, registered in the memory. John Locke.
Attention is a very necessary thing; truth doth not always strike the soul at first sight. Isaac Watts, Improv. of the Mind.
Wikipedia
Attention
Attention is the behavioral and cognitive process of selectively concentrating on a discrete aspect of information, whether considered subjective or objective, while ignoring other perceivable information. William James (1890) wrote that "Attention is the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought. Focalization, concentration, of consciousness are of its essence." Attention has also been described as the allocation of limited cognitive processing resources. Attention is manifested by an attentional bottleneck, in terms of the amount of data the brain can process each second; for example, in human vision, only less than 1% of the visual input data (at around one megabyte per second) can enter the bottleneck, leading to inattentional blindness.Attention remains a crucial area of investigation within education, psychology, neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, and neuropsychology. Areas of active investigation involve determining the source of the sensory cues and signals that generate attention, the effects of these sensory cues and signals on the tuning properties of sensory neurons, and the relationship between attention and other behavioral and cognitive processes, which may include working memory and psychological vigilance. A relatively new body of research, which expands upon earlier research within psychopathology, is investigating the diagnostic symptoms associated with traumatic brain injury and its effects on attention. Attention also varies across cultures.The relationships between attention and consciousness are complex enough that they have warranted perennial philosophical exploration. Such exploration is both ancient and continually relevant, as it can have effects in fields ranging from mental health and the study of disorders of consciousness to artificial intelligence and its domains of research.
Webster Dictionary
Attentionnoun
the act or state of attending or heeding; the application of the mind to any object of sense, representation, or thought; notice; exclusive or special consideration; earnest consideration, thought, or regard; obedient or affectionate heed; the supposed power or faculty of attending
Attentionnoun
an act of civility or courtesy; care for the comfort and pleasure of others; as, attentions paid to a stranger
Freebase
Attention
Attention is the cognitive process of selectively concentrating on one aspect of the environment while ignoring other things. Attention has also been referred to as the allocation of processing resources. Attention is one of the most intensely studied topics within psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Attention remains a major area of investigation within education, psychology and neuroscience. Areas of active investigation involve determining the source of the signals that generate attention, the effects of these signals on the tuning properties of sensory neurons, and the relationship between attention and other cognitive processes like working memory and vigilance. A relatively new body of research is investigating the phenomenon of traumatic brain injuries and their effects on attention. Attention also has variations amongst cultures.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Attention
at-ten′shun, n. act of attending, as in to pay, give, call, or attract attention: steady application of the mind: heed: civility, courtesy: care.—interj. (mil.) a cautionary word used as a command to execute some manœuvre.—adj. Attent′ive, full of attention: courteous, mindful.—adv. Attent′ively.—n. Attenti′veness. [L. attention-em—attend-ĕre. See Attend.]
The Roycroft Dictionary
attention
Concentration of the mind on whatever will ultimately put something in the pocket; hence, in law and politics, the frame-up.
U.S. National Library of Medicine
Attention
Focusing on certain aspects of current experience to the exclusion of others. It is the act of heeding or taking notice or concentrating.
Dictionary of Nautical Terms
attention
A military word of command, calling the soldier from the quiescent position of "at ease" into readiness for any exercise or evolution. Also the erect posture due to that word of command, and which is assumed by a private soldier in the presence of an officer. The attending to signals.
Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
attention
A cautionary command addressed to troops preparatory to a particular exercise or manœuvre. Gare-a-vous has the same signification in the French service.
Editors Contribution
attention
The ability and choice to focus on a specific purpose.
The attention was focused on what they would like to achieve together as a united team.
Submitted by MaryC on January 19, 2020
attention
To listen with intent.
Their attention was on what the farmers were saying to ensure they could suggest solutions for how to move forward together as one group and create a workable solution.
Submitted by MaryC on January 19, 2020
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'attention' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #691
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'attention' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1360
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'attention' in Nouns Frequency: #299
Anagrams for attention »
tentation
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of attention in Chaldean Numerology is: 9
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of attention in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1
Examples of attention in a Sentence
Some informants spied on their neighbors because they actually believed the propaganda… Some denounced their enemies in order to settle personal grudges. Some were driven by their own fears to attempt to deflect attention away from themselves…Some were motivated by the sense of power turning in their neighbors gave them.
It is fair to say that people still watch traditional TV, but streaming and online viewing is increasing very quickly, advertisers realize it’s not an ‘either/or’ but an ‘and’ if they want to increase their chances of capturing the attention of a wide audience by being everywhere they are.
They didnt pay any attention. The police just said she would appear Go looking for her, she must be around somewhere.
I see [ fear ] as this little creature that lives in my life all the time, and I can either pay it attention and not get anything done or I can march ahead and ignore it, sometimes I just have to jump two feet into a cold pool and go, ‘ OK, I believe in Reese Witherspoon enough, I know I work hard. I know I can always bet on Reese Witherspoon. Over the past few months, the Wrinkle In Time actress has been vunerable after revealing to the world that she was sexually assaulted by a director while on the set of the film when she was 16 years old.
This involves searching out or only paying attention to information that supports a belief, for example, the confirmation bias may sustain people’s belief in an apocalyptic prophecy because they start to focus on events, information, et cetera that seem to corroborate the prophecy.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
Translations for attention
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- إِهْتِمَامٌArabic
- ува́гаBelarusian
- уха́жване, внима́ниеBulgarian
- atencióCatalan, Valencian
- pozornost, pozorCzech
- ystyriaethWelsh
- opmærksomhed, bevågenhedDanish
- Aufmerksamkeit, Achtung, BeachtungGerman
- προσοχή, φροντίδα, περιποίησηGreek
- atentoEsperanto
- atenciónSpanish
- tähelepanuEstonian
- توجهPersian
- huomio, tarkkaavaisuus, asento, huomionosoitusFinnish
- attentions, attentionFrench
- aire, èisteachd, suimScottish Gaelic
- ध्यानHindi
- figyelemHungarian
- perhatianIndonesian
- allerta, sull'attenti, attenzione, attentiItalian
- תשומת לבHebrew
- 注目, 注意, 気を付けJapanese
- ಗಮನKannada
- 주목, 주의Korean
- ئاگاداریKurdish
- дит, урмат, көңүл бургула, ыклас, көңүл, көңүл буруу, ынта, назар, ыкылас, дыкат, кунтKyrgyz
- attendentesLatin
- dėmesysLithuanian
- uzmanībaLatvian
- внима́ниеMacedonian
- attenzjoniMaltese
- oppmerksomhetNorwegian
- attenties, paraatheid, aandachtDutch
- merksemdNorwegian Nynorsk
- uwaga, baczność, względy, atencjaPolish
- sentido, atençãoPortuguese
- atenție, drepțiRomanian
- внима́тельность, уха́живания, [[сто́йка]] «[[сми́рно]]», внима́ние, сми́рноRussian
- pozornost, pažnjaSerbo-Croatian
- pozornosťSlovak
- pozornost, pozorSlovene
- uppmärksamhetSwedish
- நாட்டம், கவனம்Tamil
- ува́гаUkrainian
- دھیانUrdu
- chú ýVietnamese
Get even more translations for attention »
Translation
Find a translation for the attention definition in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Word of the Day
Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?
Citation
Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"attention." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2023. Web. 6 Feb. 2023. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/attention>.
Discuss these attention definitions with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In