DictionaryAI

mind

MYND/maɪnd/

Pluralminds

Verbminds, minding, minded

18 meanings of mind

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  1. 1
    nouncountable or uncountable
    The part of a person that is aware, thinks, feels, and wills; the seat of consciousness and thought.

    Philosophers have long debated whether the mind can exist apart from the brain.

    Meditation is one way of observing the workings of your own mind.

    UsageMind is where you think and feel; brain is the organ. Picture something in your mind.

    Oppositebody

    Note

    Philosophy's term for whatever thinking, feeling and willing belong to. Some views call it a substance and others a set of processes, and how it stands to the brain is the field's central question. Samuel Knaggs stated the difficulty plainly in 1854: "we know nothing of it except from these functions." In ordinary prose it is the inner space where one turns things over, as Robin Hood does in Howard Pyle's The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (1883).

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 7 facts

    • The philosophical concept of mind encompasses thinking, feeling and willing. en.wikipedia.org
    • Philosophical accounts variously characterize mind as a substance or a set of processes. en.wiktionary.org
    • The relationship between mind and brain is a central question in philosophy of mind. en.wikipedia.org
    • Samuel Knaggs's work containing the quotation was published in 1854. wellcomecollection.org
    • Knaggs wrote the quoted words about the mind. en.wiktionary.org
    • Howard Pyle wrote The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, first published in 1883. en.wikipedia.org
    • The book describes Robin Hood turning things over in his mind. en.wikisource.org
  2. 2
    in your thoughtsnoununcountable
    Attention or thought, especially as directed toward or concentrated on a particular matter.

    Bear in mind that the office closes early on Fridays.

    The unfinished report weighed on his mind throughout the vacation.

    UsageSet phrases: keep in mind, bear in mind, and on your mind, meaning occupying your thoughts. Also pay something no mind.

    Similarattention, thoughts

    Note

    Attention appears here as something you hand over or spend. William Dalton's sailors give mind to the spreading sail (1849), and Jolie O'Dell advises moving on from trolls without paying any further mind (2013).

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • The sailors passage was published in 1849. archive.org
    • Jolie O'Dell advises moving on from trolling comments without paying further mind. en.wiktionary.org
  3. 3
    opinionnouncountable or uncountable
    A person's judgment, opinion, or view on a matter.

    To my mind, the earlier proposal was the stronger one.

    The committee members were all of one mind about the budget cuts.

    UsageSet phrases: change your mind, make up your mind, and to my mind, meaning in my opinion.

    Similaropinion, view, thinking, judgment

  4. 4
    object toverbtransitive or intransitive
    To dislike or object to something; to be bothered by it.

    Would you mind turning the music down a little?

    She doesn't mind the long commute, since it gives her time to read.

    UsageUse mind + -ing or mind if: would you mind waiting? To agree, answer no, not at all.

    Similardislike, resent, object, care

    Oppositelike, welcome, enjoy

    Note

    I wouldn't mind is often understatement for "I'd like," a soft request, though it can also simply mean that something would not bother you.

  5. 5
    verbdialectaltransitive
    To remember something, either by calling it back to mind or by keeping it in one's thoughts.

    As far back as I can mind, there was a bakery on that corner of the street.

    I mind the winter the river froze right over, when I was just a boy.

    Similarremember, recall, recollect

    Oppositeforget

  6. 6
    intellectnouncountable or uncountable
    The capability for rational thought; the faculty that lets a person reason, judge, and understand.

    Years of legal training had sharpened her mind.

    Chess demands a mind that can hold many possibilities at once.

    Similarintellect, brain, intelligence, reason

  7. 7
    nouncountable or uncountable
    The ability to remember; the faculty of memory.

    The old song brought to mind the summers of his childhood.

    She had promised to call the dentist, but it completely slipped her mind until the office had closed.

    UsageSet phrases: come to mind, bring to mind, and slip your mind, meaning be forgotten: it slipped my mind.

    Similarmemory, recollection

    Note

    The faculty is often pictured as a space that can empty: a mind goes blank, or something comes to mind. The same memory sense lives on in prayers for the dead and the regional verb "remember".

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • The religious sense of mind preserves the idea of remembrance of the dead. en.wikipedia.org
    • The verb mind preserves the meaning remember in regional English. en.wiktionary.org
  8. 8
    nouncountable or uncountable
    A healthy mental state; soundness or sanity of thought.

    The endless isolation of the voyage nearly cost the captain his mind.

    Witnesses questioned whether the old man was of sound mind when he signed the will.

    UsageSet phrases: lose your mind, out of your mind, and in wills, of sound mind.

    Similarsanity, reason, wits, senses

    Note

    Of sound mind is the formula of wills and legal declarations (being of sound mind and body), where the question is whether a person was competent when they signed. Losing your mind is its everyday opposite. It is said in earnest and also in exasperation, as a way of telling someone they are being unreasonable.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Soundness of mind is a legal requirement for making a valid will. gov.uk
    • The formula 'being of sound mind and body' occurs in legal declarations. sacandfoxnation-nsn.gov
    • The relevant legal question concerns mental capacity when the document was executed. gov.uk
  9. 9
    thinkernouncountable or uncountable
    A person regarded as the embodiment of particular intellectual or mental qualities.

    She was widely considered the finest legal mind of her generation.

    The conference brought together leading minds from medicine and engineering.

    UsageUsually ranked: one of the greatest minds of her time. Great minds think alike is said jokingly when two people agree.

    Similarthinker, intellect, brain, genius

    Note

    Here the faculty stands for the person who has it, so the noun counts and takes a plural. It is usually ranked, as in one of history's greatest minds, or Allen Ginsberg's ranking of his own generation's minds in Howl (1956). Christian Wolmar stretches it in 2022 from a person to an institution when he asks for a guiding mind in control of the railway's finances.

  10. 10
    inclinationnouncountable or uncountable
    A desire, inclination, or intention to do something.

    He had half a mind to quit on the spot.

    After waiting forty minutes for our food, I had half a mind to walk out and eat somewhere else.

    UsageHave half a mind to or a good mind to do something means you feel like doing it but have not decided.

    Similarinclination, desire, intention, wish

    Note

    John Skelton's Ware the Hauke pairs the word with its near twin: "Agaynst my mynde and wyll."

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

Practice

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Origin

From Middle English minde, from Old English ġemynd ("memory"), from Proto-Germanic *mundiz ("memory, remembrance"), and ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *men- ("to think"). It is related to Latin mēns ("mind, reason"), Sanskrit मनस् (mánas), and mantra.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 6 facts