introspection

UK/ɪntɹəˈspɛkʃən/US/ɪntɹəˈspɛkʃən/

nounC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,075 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: introspections

Introspection is looking inward at your own thoughts and feelings. A period of introspection, quiet introspection, too much introspection.

It was the main method of early psychology and was abandoned because reports of one's own mind cannot be checked by anybody else. It is now used mostly of a personal habit, and the tone decides whether it is praise.

Definitions of introspection

1nounintrospectionLooking inward at your own thoughts and feelings.C1
“After the divorce, he went through a long period of introspection.”

introspection is a looking.

Where it comes from

Latin introspectio comes from introspicere, to look within, from intro plus specere, to look.

Latin
intrōspectiō
English, today
introspection

Built from

intrōspiciō · Latin — to look into, look at, examine, observe attentively
intro- · Latin — inward
spiciō · Latin — to look at

From Latin intrōspectiō, noun of action (with -iō) from past-participle (intrōspectus) stem of intrōspiciō (“to look into, look at, examine, observe attentively”), from intro- (“inward”) + speciō, spiciō (“to look at”). by surface analysis, introspect + -ion.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

introspection in the wild

In computing, type introspection is the ability of a program to examine the type or properties of an object at runtime.
Type introspection
Poetry of this movement also often includes profound introspection.
Dolce Stil Novo
Many literary critics have argued that introspection in Italian literary works was first introduced by the Stil Novo poets, and later developed by Francesco Petrarca.
Dolce Stil Novo
The text discusses three goals of introspection, Taraka yoga and the nondual nature of Reality (Brahman).
Advayataraka Upanishad

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the intro- family

enter entry

introspection — used about once every 18,318 pages · #13,075 · point at the bar for the others

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