English
mind
Pronunciation Noun

mind (plural minds)

  1. The ability for rational thought.
    • 1576, George Whetstone, “The Ortchard of Repentance: […]”, in The Rocke of Regard, Diuided into Foure Parts. [...], Imprinted at London: [By H. Middleton] for Robert Waley, OCLC 837515946 ↗; republished in J[ohn] P[ayne] Collier, editor, The Rocke of Regard, Diuided into Foure Parts. [...] (Illustrations of Early English Poetry; vol. 2, no. 2), London: Privately printed, [1867?], OCLC 706027473 ↗, page 291 ↗:
      And ſure, although it was invented to eaſe his mynde of griefe, there be a number of caveats therein to forewarne other young gentlemen to forstand#English|foreſtand with good government their folowing yl fortunes; {{...}
      #*
      1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 639762314 ↗, page 0029 ↗:
      “ […] it is not fair of you to bring against mankind double weapons ! Dangerous enough you are as woman alone, without bringing to your aid those gifts of mind suited to problems which men have been accustomed to arrogate to themselves.”
    Despite advancing age, his mind was still as sharp as ever.
  2. The ability to be aware of things.
    There was no doubt in his mind that they would win.
  3. The ability to remember things.
    My mind just went blank.
  4. The ability to focus the thoughts.
    I can’t keep my mind on what I’m doing.
  5. Somebody that embodies certain mental qualities.
    He was one of history’s greatest minds.
  6. Judgment, opinion, or view.
    He changed his mind after hearing the speech.
  7. Desire, inclination, or intention.
    She had a mind to go to Paris.
    I have half a mind to do it myself.
    I am of a mind to listen.
  8. A healthy mental state.
    I, __ being of sound mind and body, do hereby […]
    You are losing your mind.
  9. (philosophy) The non-material substance or set of processes in which consciousness, perception, affectivity, judgement, thinking, and will are based.
    The mind is a process of the brain.
    • 1699, Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet, Heads designed for an essay on conversations ↗
      Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.
    • 1854, Samuel Knaggs, Unsoundness of Mind Considered in Relation to the Question of Responsibility for Criminal Acts, p.19:
      The mind is that part of our being which thinks and wills, remembers and reasons; we know nothing of it except from these functions.
    • 1883, Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood Chapter V
      Thus they dwelled for nearly a year, and in that time Robin Hood often turned over in his mind many means of making an even score with the Sheriff.
  10. Continual prayer on a dead person's behalf for a period after their death.
    a month's [or monthly] mind; a year's mind
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Verb

mind (minds, present participle minding; past and past participle minded)

  1. (originally and chiefly in negative or interrogative constructions) To dislike, to object to; to be bothered by. [from 16th c.]
    I wouldn't mind an ice cream right now.
    Do you mind if I smoke?
  2. To look after, to take care of, especially for a short period of time. [from 17th c.]
    Would you mind my bag for me?
  3. (chiefly, in the imperative) To make sure, to take care (that). [from 17th c.]
    Mind you don't knock that glass over.
  4. To be careful about. [from 18th c.]
    • 2005, Gillie Bolton, Reflective Practice: Writing And Professional Development, ISBN 9781848602120, page xv:
      Bank Underground Station, London, is built on a curve, leaving a potentially dangerous gap between platform and carriage to trap the unwary. The loudspeaker voice instructs passengers to "Mind the gap": the boundary between train and platform.
  5. (UK, Ireland) Take note; used to point out an exception or caveat.
    I'm not very healthy. I do eat fruit sometimes, mind.
  6. (now, rare except in phrases) To attend to, concern oneself with, heed, be mindful of. [from 15th c.]
    You should mind your own business.
    • c. 1591, Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, Act I Scene i:
      My lord, you nod: you do not mind the play.
    • bidding him be a good child, and mind his book
    • 2000, George RR Martin, A Storm of Swords, Bantam 2011, page 84:
      Should you ever have a son, Sansa, beat him frequently so he learns to mind you.
  7. (now, regional) To remember. [from 14th c.]
    • 1896, A. E. Housman, A Shropshire Lad, XXXVII, lines 25-26:
      The land where I shall mind you not / Is the land where all's forgot.
  8. (obsolete) To have in mind; to intend.
    • c. 1591–1592, William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act IV, scene i]:
      I mind to tell him plainly what I think.
    • 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night:
      […] and if ever I refused to do his bidding or loitered or took my leisure he beat me with his feet more grievously than if I had been beaten with whips. He ceased not to signal with his hand wherever he was minded to go; so I carried him about the island, like a captive slave, and he bepissed and conskited my shoulders and back, dismounting not night nor day; and whenas he wished to sleep he wound his legs about his neck and leaned back and slept awhile, then arose and beat me; whereupon I sprang up in haste, unable to gainsay him because of the pain he inflicted on me.
  9. (obsolete) To put in mind; to remind.
    • 1599, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act IV, scene iii]:
      I do thee wrong to mind thee of it.
    • c. 1610-11, Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale, Act III, Scene 2:
      Let me be punished, that have minded you Of what you should forget.
    • , Thomas Burnet, The Sacred Theory of the Earth
      I desire to mind those persons of what Saint Austin hath said.
    • , Roger L'Estrange, Fables, of Aesop, and other eminent mythologists.
      This minds me of a cobbling colonel of famous memory.
    • 1689, John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, "Of True and False Ideas"
      I shall only mind him, that the contrary supposition, if it could be proved, is of little use.
    • He minded them of the mutability of all earthly things.
Synonyms Translations Translations
  • French: déranger
  • German: dagegen haben
  • Portuguese: importar-se
  • Russian: возража́ть
  • Spanish: importar
Translations

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