instinct
nomadjectifcourant dans les dialogues
- //ˈɪn.stɪŋkt//
A natural or inherent impulse or behaviour.
nom
- 1
A natural or inherent impulse or behaviour.
Many animals fear fire by instinct.
By a divine instinct, men's minds mistrust / Ensuing dangers.
In spite of these qualifications, the broad distinction between instinct and habit is undeniable. To take extreme cases, every animal at birth can take food by instinct, before it has had opportunity to learn; on the other hand, no one can ride a bicycle by instinct, though, after learning, the necessary movements become just as automatic as if they were instinctive.
- 2
An intuitive reaction not based on rational conscious thought.
an instinct for order; to be modest by instinct
Debbie's instinct was to distrust John.
Étymologie
From Latin īnstīnctus, past participle of īnstinguō (“to incite, to instigate”), from in (“in, on”) + stinguō (“to prick”).
adjectif
- 1
archaïqueImbued, charged (with something).
The chariot of paternal deity […] / Itself instinct with spirit, but convoyed / By four cherubic shapes.
a noble performance, instinct with sound principle
Her eyes, whose colour I had not at first known, so dim were they with repressed tears, so shadowed with ceaseless dejection, now, lit by a ray of the sunshine that cheered her heart, revealed irids of bright hazel – irids large and full, screened with long lashes; and pupils instinct with fire.
It was a most Bedlamite catalogue of horrors, which, if true, made the wholesome moors a place instinct with tragedy.
Formes
- pluriel
- instincts
- comparatif
- more instinct
- superlatif
- most instinct
instinct · A natural or inherent impulse or behaviour.
institute · An organization founded to promote a causeinstitution · A long-established organization or type of organization,…instruct · To teach by giving instructions.