introspection

From Latin intrōspectiō,^[1] 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”).^[2] By surface analysis, introspect +‎ -ion.

• IPA^(key): /ɪntɹəˈspɛkʃən/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛkʃən

introspection (countable and uncountable, plural introspections)

1. (psychology) A looking inward; specifically, the act or process of self-examination, or inspection of one's own thoughts and feelings; the cognition which the mind has of its own acts and states.

   Synonyms: self-consciousness, reflection

   Antonym: extraspection

   • 2019 April 10, qntm, “CASE HATE RED”, in There Is No Antimemetics Division, →ISBN, page 133:

     If Adam Wheeler gave it some thought, or if someone were to prompt him with the right questions, he could put words around the fact that his existence doesn't bring him any satisfaction. He would discover, on introspection, that he's nowhere close, actually, to "happy", and that there is something vast and significant missing from his life. But he doesn't give it any thought. There's a void between him and those questions.

2. (object-oriented programming) Clipping of type introspection.

• inlook

• dialogue
• extraspection
• extrospection

• soul-searching
• self report

• “introspection”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “introspection”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Learned borrowing from Latin intrōspectiō.

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.tʁɔs.pɛk.sjɔ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

introspection f (plural introspections)

1. introspection

• “introspection”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.