What does instinct mean?
Definitions for instinct
ˈɪn stɪŋktin·stinct
Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word instinct.
Princeton's WordNet
instinct, inherent aptitude(adj)
inborn pattern of behavior often responsive to specific stimuli
"the spawning instinct in salmon"; "altruistic instincts in social animals"
instinct(p), replete(p)(adj)
(followed by `with')deeply filled or permeated
"imbued with the spirit of the Reformation"; "words instinct with love"; "it is replete with misery"
Wiktionary
instinct(Noun)
A natural or inherent impulse or behaviour.
Many animals fear fire by instinct.
Etymology: From instinctus, past participle of instinguere, from in + stinguere
instinct(Noun)
An intuitive reaction not based on rational conscious thought.
Debbie's instinct was to distrust John.
Etymology: From instinctus, past participle of instinguere, from in + stinguere
instinct(Adjective)
Urged or stimulated from within, infused
Etymology: From instinctus, past participle of instinguere, from in + stinguere
Webster Dictionary
Instinct(adj)
urged or stimulated from within; naturally moved or impelled; imbued; animated; alive; quick; as, birds instinct with life
Etymology: [L. instinctus, p. p. of instinguere to instigate, incite; cf. instigare to instigate. Cf. Instigate, Distinguish.]
Instinct(adj)
natural inward impulse; unconscious, involuntary, or unreasoning prompting to any mode of action, whether bodily, or mental, without a distinct apprehension of the end or object to be accomplished
Etymology: [L. instinctus, p. p. of instinguere to instigate, incite; cf. instigare to instigate. Cf. Instigate, Distinguish.]
Instinct(adj)
specif., the natural, unreasoning, impulse by which an animal is guided to the performance of any action, without of improvement in the method
Etymology: [L. instinctus, p. p. of instinguere to instigate, incite; cf. instigare to instigate. Cf. Instigate, Distinguish.]
Instinct(adj)
a natural aptitude or knack; a predilection; as, an instinct for order; to be modest by instinct
Etymology: [L. instinctus, p. p. of instinguere to instigate, incite; cf. instigare to instigate. Cf. Instigate, Distinguish.]
Instinct(verb)
to impress, as an animating power, or instinct
Etymology: [L. instinctus, p. p. of instinguere to instigate, incite; cf. instigare to instigate. Cf. Instigate, Distinguish.]
Freebase
Instinct
Instinct or innate behavior is the inherent inclination of a living organism toward a particular complex behavior. The simplest example of an instinctive behavior is a fixed action pattern, in which a very short to medium length sequence of actions, without variation, are carried out in response to a clearly defined stimulus. Any behavior is instinctive if it is performed without being based upon prior experience, and is therefore an expression of innate biological factors. Sea turtles, newly hatched on a beach, will automatically move toward the ocean. A joey climbs into its mother's pouch upon being born. Honeybees communicate by dancing in the direction of a food source without formal instruction. Other examples include animal fighting, animal courtship behavior, internal escape functions, and the building of nests. All of these are examples of complex behaviors and are thus substantially different from simple reflex behaviors. An instinct should be distinguished from a reflex, which is a simple response of an organism to a specific stimulus, such as the contraction of the pupil in response to bright light or the spasmodic movement of the lower leg when the knee is tapped. Instincts, in contrast, are inborn complex patterns of behavior that must exist in every member of the species and that cannot be overcome by force of will. However, the absence of volitional capacity must not be confused with an inability to modify fixed action patterns. For example, people may be able to modify a stimulated fixed action pattern by consciously recognizing the point of its activation and simply stop doing it, whereas animals without a sufficiently strong volitional capacity may not be able to disengage from their fixed action patterns, once activated.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Instinct
in′stingkt, n. impulse: an involuntary prompting to action: intuition: the mental aspect of those actions which take rank between unconscious reflex activities and intelligent conduct: the natural impulse by which animals are guided apparently independent of reason or experience.—adj. (in-stingkt′) instigated or incited: moved: animated.—adj. Instinc′tive, prompted by instinct: involuntary: acting according to or determined by natural impulse.—adv. Instinc′tively.—n. Instinctiv′ity (rare). [L. instinctus—instinguĕre, to instigate.]
U.S. National Library of Medicine
Instinct
Stereotyped patterns of response, characteristic of a given species, that have been phylogenetically adapted to a specific type of situation.
Editors Contribution
instinct
Intuition or intuitive feeling, knowing or thought.
He said his instinct told him to carry out acts of kindness towards his fellow human beings to he acted according to his instinct.
Submitted by MaryC on January 18, 2016
British National Corpus
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'instinct' in Nouns Frequency: #2015
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of instinct in Chaldean Numerology is: 8
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of instinct in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9
Examples of instinct in a Sentence
By instinct I'm an adventurer; by choice I'd like to be a writer; by pure, unadulterated luck, I'm an actor.
The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.
Pictures are a combination of serendipity, instinct and experience, of course a good photographer has all of these things going for him.
I’m a very instinctual person, but my instinct turns out to be right, when everyone said I wasn’t going to win the election, I said, ‘Well, I think I would.’…I said, ‘No, Brexit is going to happen,’ and everybody laughed. And Brexit happened. Many, many things. They turn out to be right. And now, today, Devin Nunes just had a news conference.
Life without sex might be safer but it would be unbearably dull. It is the sex instinct which makes women seem beautiful, which they are once in a blue moon, and men seem wise and brave, which they never are at all. Throttle it, denaturalize it, take it away, and human existence would be reduced to the prosiac, laborious, boresome, imbecile level of life in an anthill.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
Translations for instinct
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- instinkAfrikaans
- سليقة, فطرة, غريزة, غريزهArabic
- InstinktGerman
- instintoSpanish
- غریزهPersian
- vaistoFinnish
- instinctFrench
- אינסטינקטHebrew
- स्वाभाविकHindi
- ösztönHungarian
- naluriIndonesian
- istintoItalian
- יֵצHebrew
- 本能Japanese
- 본능, 本能Korean
- instinctuLatin
- naluri, garizah, instingMalay
- instinctDutch
- instynktPolish
- instintoPortuguese
- инстинктRussian
- nágonSerbo-Croatian
- tshekameloSouthern Sotho
- instinktSwedish
- உள்ளுணர்வுTamil
- స్వభావంTelugu
- สัญชาตญาณThai
- sevkitabii, insiyak, içgüdüTurkish
- інстинктUkrainian
- سنتیںUrdu
- 本能, bản năngVietnamese
- 直觉Chinese
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"instinct." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2021. Web. 16 Jan. 2021. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/instinct>.