Intent vs intention

[Bulone]

Care to explain?

[Alan]

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Hi Bulone,

'Intention' means what you intend to do, what you plan to do. 'Intent' is a little more abstract and is used sometimes in a legal sense suggesting what someone had in mind to do.

It was her intention to travel the world for a year before she went to university.

The judge decided that the accused had not meant to drive into the wall and it wasn't his intent to cause damage.

From the noise and shouting you could tell that everyone was intent on enjoying themselves.

Alan
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[Bulone]

Thanks Alan

[Derek]

Alan is correct about the distinction in application; however, as apparent to me in Alan's explanation, the two are semantically very similar, differing only in degree. Merriam Webster distinguishes the two accordingly; 'intent' suggests clearer formulation or greater deliberateness, whereas intention suggests little more than what one has in mind or to bring about.