Definition of "intension" in English

noun

1. intensity or the act of becoming intense.

2. (logic, semantics) Any property or quality connoted by a word, phrase or other symbol, contrasted with actual instances in the real world to which the term applies.

   • 'Is a plant', 'has a trunk', 'has leaves' are intensions of the concept tree. Its extension is the set of all trees existing in the real world.

3. (dated) A straining, stretching, or bending; the state of being strained.

   • the intension of a musical string