instinction

English

Etymology

From Middle English instinccion, instyncyon, from Middle French instincion and its etymon Medieval Latin īnstīnctiō.^[1]^[2]

Noun

instinction

(obsolete) Instinct; incitement; inspiration.
- 1531, Thomas Elyot, “The seconde and thirde decay of lernyng amonge gentilmen”, in Ernest Rhys, editor, The Boke Named the Governour […] (Everyman’s Library), London: J[oseph] M[alaby] Dent & Co; New York, N.Y.: E[dward] P[ayson] Dutton & Co, published [1907], →OCLC, 1st book, page 57:
  And therfore Tulli in his Tusculane questyons supposeth that a poete can nat abundantly expresse verses sufficient and complete, or that his eloquence may flowe without labour wordes wel sounyng and plentuouse, without celestiall instinction, whiche is also by Plato ratified.

References

^ “instincciọ̄n, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
^ “instinction, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “instinction”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Anagrams

intinctions

[1] “instincciọ̄n, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

[2] “instinction, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

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