n.
- The human consciousness that originates in the brain and is manifested especially in thought, perception, emotion, will, memory, and imagination.
- The collective conscious and unconscious processes in a sentient organism that direct and influence mental and physical behavior.
- The principle of intelligence; the spirit of consciousness regarded as an aspect of reality.
- The faculty of thinking, reasoning, and applying knowledge: Follow your mind, not your heart.
- A person of great mental ability: the great minds of the century.
- Individual consciousness, memory, or recollection: I'll bear the problem in mind.
- A person or group that embodies certain mental qualities: the medical mind; the public mind.
- The thought processes characteristic of a person or group; psychological makeup: the criminal mind.
- Opinion or sentiment: He changed his mind when he heard all the facts.
- Desire or inclination: She had a mind to spend her vacation in the desert.
- Focus of thought; attention: I can't keep my mind on work.
- A healthy mental state; sanity: losing one's mind.
v., mind·ed, mind·ing, minds. v.tr.
- To bring (an object or idea) to mind; remember.
- To become aware of; notice.
- Upper Southern U.S. To have in mind as a goal or purpose; intend.
- To heed in order to obey: The children minded their babysitter.
- To attend to: Mind closely what I tell you.
- To be careful about: Mind the icy sidewalk!
- To care about; be concerned about.
- To object to; dislike: doesn't mind doing the chores.
- To take care or charge of; look after.
- To take notice; give heed.
- To behave obediently.
- To be concerned or troubled; care: "Not minding about bad food has become a national obsession" (Times Literary Supplement).
- To be cautious or careful.
[Middle English minde, from Old English gemynd.]
minder mind'er n.SYNONYMS mind, intellect, intelligence, brain, wit, reason. These nouns denote the capacity of thinking, reasoning, and acquiring and applying knowledge. Mind refers broadly to the capacities for thought, perception, memory, and decision: "No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear" (Edmund Burke). Intellect stresses knowing, thinking, and understanding: "Opinion is ultimately determined by the feelings, and not by the intellect" (Herbert Spencer). Intelligence implies solving problems, learning from experience, and reasoning abstractly: "The world of the future will be an ever more demanding struggle against the limitations of our intelligence" (Norbert Wiener). Brain suggests strength of intellect: We racked our brains to find a solution. Wit stresses quickness of intelligence or facility of comprehension: "There is no such whetstone, to sharpen a good wit and encourage a will to learning, as is praise" (Roger Ascham). Reason, the capacity for logical, rational, and analytic thought, embraces comprehending, evaluating, and drawing conclusions: "Since I have had the full use of my reason, nobody has ever heard me laugh" (Earl of Chesterfield). See also synonyms at tend2.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
