NOUS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does nous mean? 

• NOUS (noun)
  The noun NOUS has 2 senses:

1. common sense

2. that which is responsible for one's thoughts, feelings, and conscious brain functions; the seat of the faculty of reason

  Familiarity information: NOUS used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NOUS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Common sense

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

she has great social nous

Hypernyms ("nous" is a kind of...):

common sense; good sense; gumption; horse sense; mother wit; sense (sound practical judgment)

Domain region:

Britain; Great Britain; U.K.; UK; United Kingdom; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (a monarchy in northwestern Europe occupying most of the British Isles; divided into England and Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland; 'Great Britain' is often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom)

Sense 2

Meaning:

That which is responsible for one's thoughts, feelings, and conscious brain functions; the seat of the faculty of reason

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

brain; head; mind; nous; psyche

Context example:

I couldn't get his words out of my head

Hypernyms ("nous" is a kind of...):

cognition; knowledge; noesis (the psychological result of perception and learning and reasoning)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "nous"):

noddle (an informal British expression for head or mind)

tabula rasa (a young mind not yet affected by experience (according to John Locke))

ego ((psychoanalysis) the conscious mind)

unconscious; unconscious mind (that part of the mind wherein psychic activity takes place of which the person is unaware)

subconscious; subconscious mind (psychic activity just below the level of awareness)

 Context examples 

Mais oui, mademoiselle: voila cinq ou six heures que nous n'avons pas mange.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)