introspection

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪntɹəˈspɛkʃən/
• Rhymes: -ɛkʃən

Noun

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 SCP Foundation‎^[1], archived from the original on 29 May 2024:

     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.

Synonyms

• inlook

Antonyms

• dialogue
• extraspection
• extrospection

Derived terms

• introspectional
• introspectionist
• introspection illusion

Related terms

• extraspection
• extrospection
• introspective
• introspect
• introspectability
• type introspection

Translations

the act or process of self-examination

• Azerbaijani: daxili müşahidə
• Bulgarian: самонаблюдение n (samonabljudenie)
• Catalan: introspecció (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 內省／内省 (zh) (nèixǐng), 內觀／内观 (zh) (nèiguān)

• Czech: introspekce f
• Esperanto: introspekto
• Finnish: itsetutkiskelu, introspektio (fi)
• German: Innenschau (de) f, Introspektion (de) f, Selbstbeobachtung f, Selbstprüfung f, Selbstwahrnehmung f (psychology)
• Greek: ενδοσκόπηση (el) f (endoskópisi)
• Hindi: अंतर्निरीक्षण (antarnirīkṣaṇ)
• Indonesian: wawas diri (id), introspeksi (id), refleksi diri
• Japanese: 内観 (ja) (ないかん, naikan)
• Kannada: ಅಂತರವಲೋಕನ (antaravalōkana)
• Kazakh: өзін-өзі бақылау (özın-özı baqylau), өзін-өзі байқау (özın-özı baiqau)
• Lithuanian: savistaba f
• Polish: autoanaliza (pl) f, samoanaliza f, introspekcja (pl) f
• Portuguese: introspecção (pt) f (Brazil), introspeção f (Portugal)
• Russian: самоана́лиз (ru) m (samoanáliz), самонаблюде́ние (ru) n (samonabljudénije), интроспе́кция (ru) f (introspékcija)
• Serbo-Croatian: introspèkcija (sh) f, samoópažānje (sh) n, samoposmatranje n
• Spanish: introspección (es)
• Swedish: introspektion (sv) c, själviakttagelse c
• Turkish: iç gözlem, içe bakış (tr), introspeksiyon (psychology)
• Ukrainian: інтроспе́кція f (introspékcija)

See also

• soul-searching
• self report

Further reading

• “introspection”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “introspection”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

French

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

introspection f (plural introspections)

1. introspection

Further reading

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