intensive

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English

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WOTD – 19 July 2024

Etymology

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The adjective is derived from Late Middle English intensive (“fervent, great, intense”),[1] borrowed from Old French intensif, intensive (modern French intensif) + Middle English -ive (suffix meaning ‘of the nature of, relating to’ forming adjectives),[2] equivalent to intense +‎ -ive. Intensif is from Medieval Latin intēnsīvus, from Latin intēnsus (“attentive; eager, intent; intensive”) + -īvus (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘doing; related to doing’); and intēnsus is the perfect passive participle of intendō (“to stretch out, strain”),[3][4] from in- (prefix meaning ‘to, towards’) + tendō (“to extend, stretch, stretch out”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tend- (“to extend, stretch”)). Doublet of intend.

The noun is derived from the adjective.[3][5]

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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intensive (comparative more intensive, superlative most intensive)

  1. Done with intensity or to a great degree; thorough.
    Antonyms: unintensive, nonintensive, superficial
    • 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, “Preface”, in The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page vii:
      Secondly, I continue to base my concepts on intensive study of a limited suite of collections, rather than superficial study of every packet that comes to hand.
  2. Being made more intense.
  3. Making something more intense; intensifying.
    1. (agriculture, economics) Of agriculture: increasing the productivity of an area of land.
      Antonym: extensive
    3. (linguistics) Of a word: serving to give emphasis or force.
      Synonym: intensative
      an intensive verb or preposition
      • 1608, Edward Topsell, “Of Aspes”, in The Historie of Serpents. Or, The Second Booke of Liuing Creatures: […], London: […] William Jaggard, →OCLC, pages 54–55:
        Ariſtophanes deriueth it [the word asp] from Alpha, an intenſiue Particle, and Spizo vvhich ſignifieth to extend; either by reaſon of his ſharpe-ſhrill hiſſing, or for the length of his body.
  4. Involving much activity in a short period of time; highly concentrated.
    I took a three-day intensive course in finance.
  5. Of or pertaining to innate or internal intensity or strength rather than outward extent.
  6. Chiefly suffixed to a noun: using something with intensity; requiring a great amount of something; demanding.
    This job is difficult because it is so labour-intensive.
    1. (medicine) Chiefly in intensive care: of care or treatment: involving a great degree of life support, monitoring, and other forms of effort in order to manage life-threatening conditions.
      She was moved to the intensive-care unit of the hospital.
  7. (obsolete)
    1. That can be intensified; allowing an increase of degree.
      • a. 1677 (date written), Matthew Hale, “Certain Objections against the Truths Formerly Delivered, and against the Reasons Given in Proof thereof, with Their Solutions”, in The Primitive Origination of Mankind, Considered and Examined According to the Light of Nature, London: […] William Godbid, for William Shrowsbery, […], published 1677, →OCLC, section I, page 122:
        As his [God's] Perfection is infinitely greater than the perfection of a Man, ſo it is infinitely greater than the perfection of an Angel; and vvere it not infinitely greater than the perfection of an Angel, it could not be infinitely greater than the perfection of a Man, becauſe the intenſive diſtance betvveen the perfection of an Angel and of a Man is but finite: […]
    2. Synonym of intense (“extreme or very high or strong in degree; of feelings, thoughts, etc.: strongly focused”)
      • 1605, Francis Bacon, “The Second Booke”, in The Twoo Bookes of Francis Bacon. Of the Proficience and Aduancement of Learning, Diuine and Humane, London: […] [Thomas Purfoot and Thomas Creede] for Henrie Tomes, […], →OCLC, folio 46, recto:
        Faſcination is the povver and act of Imagination, intenſiue vpon other bodies, than the bodie of the Imaginant; […]
      • 1608, Edward Topsell, “Of the Cockatrice”, in The Historie of Serpents. Or, The Second Booke of Liuing Creatures: […], London: […] William Jaggard, →OCLC, page 124:
        The queſtion is in vvhat part of this Serpent the poyſon doth lye; Some ſay in the head alone, and that therefore the Bazeliske is deafe, bycauſe the Ayre vvhich ſerueth the Organe of hearing, is reſolued by the intenſiue calidity: but this ſeemeth not to bee true, […]
      • 1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Immediate Cause of These Precedent Symptoms [of Melancholy]”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy, […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and Iames Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 1, section 3, member 3, subsection 1, page 263:
        [T]he Imagination invvardly or outvvardly moued, repreſents to the vnderſtanding, not intiſements only to favour the paſſion or diſlike, but a very intenſiue pleaſure follovves the paſſion, or diſpleaſure, and the vvill and reaſon are captivated by delighting in it.
      • c. 1635 (date written), Henry Wotton, “Of Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex; and George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham: Some Observations by Way of Parallel in the Time of Their Estates of Favour”, in Reliquiæ Wottonianæ. Or, A Collection of Lives, Letters, Poems; […], London: […] Thomas Maxey, for R[ichard] Marriot, G[abriel] Bedel, and T[imothy] Garthwait, published 1651, →OCLC, page 3:
        Some therefore vvere of opinion, that […] vvith that aſſiduous attendance, and intenſive circumſpection vvhich a long indulgent fortune did require, he vvas grovvn not unvvilling, for his ovvn eaſe, to beſtovv handſomly upon another ſome part of the pains, and perhaps of the envie.

Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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Noun

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intensive (plural intensives)

  1. A thing which makes something more intense; specifically (linguistics), a form of a word with a more forceful or stronger sense than the root on which it is built.
  2. (education) A course taught intensively, involving much activity in a short period of time.
    • 2017, “Supporting Organizations”, in Wendy Hasenkamp, Janna R. White, editors, The Monastery and the Microscope: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on Mind, Mindfulness, and the Nature of Reality, New Haven, Conn.; London: Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 372:
      Beginning in 2014, ETSI [the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative] embarked on a six-year implementation phase at three monastic universities (Sera, Ganden, and Drepung). This program is composed of summer intensives taught by faculty from Emory and other institutions, year-round study led by on-site instructors, translation and production of bilingual textbooks and instructional videos, and further curriculum refinement.

Translations

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References

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  1. ^ “intensī̆ve, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ “-ī̆f, -ī̆ve, suf.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 “intensive, adj. and n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023.
  4. ^ “intensive, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  5. ^ “intensive, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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Anagrams

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French

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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intensive

  1. feminine singular of intensif

German

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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intensive

  1. inflection of intensiv:
    1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
    2. strong nominative/accusative plural
    3. weak nominative all-gender singular
    4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

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Adjective

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intensive f pl

  1. feminine plural of intensivo

Anagrams

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Norwegian Bokmål

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Adjective

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intensive

  1. inflection of intensiv:
    1. definite singular
    2. plural

Norwegian Nynorsk

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Adjective

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intensive

  1. inflection of intensiv:
    1. definite singular
    2. plural

Swedish

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Adjective

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intensive

  1. definite natural masculine singular of intensiv
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