intrinsic means innate, inherent, inseparable from the thing itself, essential.
intrinsic is pronounced /ɪnˈtɹɪn.zɪk/.
Why “intrinsic” is a great word
Belonging to the essential nature or constitution of a thing; inherent and innate. From Middle French *intrinsèque*, from Latin *intrīnsecus* ("on the inside, inwardly"), from an assumed adverbial *intrim* (from *inter*, "within") + *secus* ("by, on the side"), first recorded in English between 1480 and 1490. Unlike "extrinsic" (which denotes qualities externally attached, like a label on a suitcase) or "acquired" (which speaks to capacities gained from without, like scarred wisdom), intrinsic describes what a thing simply *is*: the mineral hardness of a diamond, the silent gravity of a leaden weight, the warmth of a stone that has held the sun long after dusk—the irreducible core that remains when every borrowed quality is taken away, indifferent to the wind’s opinion.
Etymology
From Middle French intrinsèque, from Latin intrīnsecus (“on the inside, inwardly”), from *intrim, an assumed adverbial form of inter (“within”) + secus (“by, on the side”).
adj
- Innate, inherent, inseparable from the thing itself, essential.“the intrinsic value of gold or silver”
- Situated, produced, secreted in, or coming from inside an organ, tissue, muscle or member.
- Built-in.“In addition to the Fortran operators that are intrinsic (built in), there may be user-defined operators in expressions.”
noun
- A built-in function that is implemented directly by the compiler, without any intermediate call to a library.“SIMD intrinics”
- An ability possessed by a character and not requiring any external equipment.“You can acquire the fire-resistance intrinsic by eating dragon meat.”
Words closest in meaning
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