n.

1. Something that is intended; an aim or purpose. See synonyms at intention.
2. Law. The state of one's mind at the time one carries out an action.
3. Meaning; purport.

adj.

1. Firmly fixed; concentrated: an intent gaze.
2. Having the attention applied; engrossed: The students, intent upon their books, did not hear me enter the room.
3. Having the mind and will focused on a specific purpose: was intent on leaving within the hour; are intent upon being recognized.

idiom:

for (or to) all intents and purposes

1. In every practical sense; practically: To all intents and purposes the case is closed.

[Middle English entent, from Old French, from Medieval Latin intentus, from Latin, an extending, from intentus, attentive to, strained, from past participle of intendere, to direct attention. See intend.]

intently in·tent'ly adv.
intentness in·tent'ness n.

noun

1. What one intends to do or achieve: aim, ambition, design, end, goal, intention, mark, meaning, object, objective, point, purpose, target, view, why. Idioms: end in view, why and wherefore. See planned/unplanned, purpose/purposelessness.
2. The thread or current of thought uniting or occurring in all the elements of a text or discourse: aim, burden², drift, meaning, purport, substance, tendency, tenor, thrust. See meaning.
3. That which is signified by a word or expression: acceptation, connotation, denotation, import, meaning, message, purport, sense, significance, significancy, signification, value. See meaning.

adjective

1. Concentrating the mental powers on something: attentive, heedful, regardful. Idioms: allearseyes. See excite/bore/interest.
2. Having one's thoughts fully occupied: absorbed, deep, preoccupied, rapt. Idioms: wrapped up in. See awareness/unawareness, excite/bore/interest.
3. On an unwavering course of action: bent, decided, determined, fixed, resolute, set¹. See decide/hesitate.

adj

Definition: determined, resolute
Antonyms: distracted, half-hearted, irresolute, reluctant

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The reports that congressional committees produce when they send a bill to the floor, as well as the speeches that the bill's supporters make, help to establish the bill's legislative intent—the reasons why Congress passed the legislation. Laws will often include specific language telling executive departments how they should be administered. When questions arise, the courts often consider legislative intent when they interpret those laws and how they have been administered.

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

A determination to perform a particular act or to act in a particular manner for a specific reason; an aim or design; a resolution to use a certain means to reach an end.

Intent is a mental attitude with which an individual acts, and therefore it cannot ordinarily be directly proved but must be inferred from surrounding facts and circumstances. Intent refers only to the state of mind with which the act is done or omitted. It differs from motive, which is what prompts a person to act or to fail to act. For example, suppose Billy calls Amy names and Amy throws a snowball at him. Amy's intent is to hit Billy with a snowball. Her motive may be to stop Billy's taunts.

The legal importance of what an individual intended depends on the particular area of law. In contract law, for example, the intention of the parties to a written contract is fixed by the language of the contract document.

In tort law, intent plays a key role in determining the civil liability of persons who commit harm. An intentional tort is any deliberate invasion of, or interference with, the property, property rights, personal rights, or personal liberties of another that causes injuries without just cause or excuse. In tort an individual is considered to intend the consequences of an act — whether or not she or he actually intends those consequences — if the individual is substantially certain that those consequences will result.

Basic intentional torts include assault and battery, conversion of property, false arrest, false imprisonment, fraud, intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, and trespass. It is ordinarily not necessary that any wrongful or illegal means be used to accomplish the negative result, provided the wrongful conduct was intentional and was not accompanied by excuse or justification.

In criminal law the concept of criminal intent has been called mens rea, which refers to a criminal or wrongful purpose. If a person innocently causes harm, then she or he lacks mens rea and, under this concept, should not be criminally prosecuted.

Although the concept of mens rea is generally accepted, problems arise in applying it to particular cases. Some crimes require a very high degree of intent, whereas others require substantially less. Larceny, for example, requires that the defendant intentionally take property to which the person knows he or she is not entitled, intending to deprive the rightful owner of possession permanently. On the other hand, negligent homicide requires only that the defendant negligently cause another's death.

Criminal law has attempted to clarify the intent requirement by creating the concepts of "specific intent" and "general intent." Specific intent refers to a particular state of mind that seeks to accomplish the precise act that the law prohibits — for example, a specific intent to commit rape. Sometimes it means an intent to do something beyond that which is done, such as assault with intent to commit rape. The prosecution must show that the defendant purposely or knowingly committed the crime at issue.

General intent refers to the intent to do that which the law prohibits. It is not necessary for the prosecution to prove that the defendant intended the precise harm or the precise result that occurred. Thus, in most states, a defendant who kills a person with a gun while intoxicated, to the extent that the defendant is not aware of having a gun, will be guilty of second-degree murder. The law will infer that the defendant had a general intent to kill.

Criminal law dispenses with the intent requirement in many property-related crimes. Under common law the prosecution had to establish that the defendant intended to steal or destroy property. By 1900 many statutes eliminated the "intent-to-defraud" requirement for property crimes. Passing a bad check, obtaining property under false pretenses, selling mortgaged property, and embezzling while holding public office no longer required criminal intent.

Criminal law and tort law share the concept of transferred intent. For example, if A shoots a gun at B, intending to strike B, but the bullet hits C, the intent to strike is transferred to the act of shooting C and supplies the necessary intent for either a criminal conviction or a civil tort action. Under the criminal doctrine of transferred intent, the intent is considered to follow the criminal act regardless of who turns out to be the victim. Under the tort doctrine of transferred intent, the defendant is liable for monetary damages to the unintended victim.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - hensigt, agt
adj. - spændt, anspændt, optaget af

idioms:

• to all intents and purposes    praktisk talt, i virkeligheden

Nederlands (Dutch)
bedoeling, vastbesloten

Français (French)
n. - intention, dessein, (Jur) intention
adj. - déterminé, résolu, décidé, absorbé

idioms:

• to all intents and purposes    en fait, virtuellement

Deutsch (German)
n. - Absicht
adj. - versessen, eifrig beschäftigt, gespannt

idioms:

• to all intents and purposes    im Grunde

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - προαίρεση, πρόθεση, επιδίωξη
adj. - έντονος, γεμάτος υπερένταση, προσηλωμένος, απορροφημένος

idioms:

• to all intents and purposes    στην ουσία, από κάθε άποψη

Italiano (Italian)
intenzione, dedito

idioms:

• to all intents and purposes    a tutti i riguardi

Português (Portuguese)
n. - intenção (f)
adj. - atento

idioms:

• to all intents and purposes    quase

Русский (Russian)
намерение, смысл, сосредоточенный, полный решимости

idioms:

• to all intents and purposes    в сущности говоря, фактически, для всех практических целей

Español (Spanish)
n. - intención, propósito, intento, designio, ánimo
adj. - profundo, detenido, fijo, dedicado a, absorto

idioms:

• to all intents and purposes    a efectos prácticos

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - syfte (isht jur.), uppsåt
adj. - spänt, uppmärksam

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
意图, 意向, 目的, 专心的, 热心的, 决心的

idioms:

• to all intents and purposes    实际上

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 意圖, 意向, 目的
adj. - 專心的, 熱心的, 決心的

idioms:

• to all intents and purposes    實際上

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 의지, 의미
adj. - 집중된, 전념하고 있는

idioms:

• to all intents and purposes    어느 점으로 보나, 사실상

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 意図, 目的, 意向, 意味, 趣旨
adj. - 熱心な, 没頭して, しようとして

idioms:

• to all intents and purposes    どの点からみても, 事実上

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) قصد, نيه, معنى (صفه) مركز, منكب على‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮כוונה, רצון, מטרה‬
adj. - ‮רציני, מרוכז, החלטי, מתכוון, נוטה ל-‬

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