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Definition of nous

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competent
Definition: (adjective) having the skill and knowledge needed for a particular task; capable
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nous  audio  (ns, nous) KEY  

NOUN:
  1. Philosophy
    1. Reason and knowledge as opposed to sense perception.
    2. The rational part of the individual human soul.
    3. The principle of the cosmic mind or soul responsible for the rational order of the cosmos.
    4. In Stoicism, the equivalent of Logos.
    5. In Neo-Platonism, the image of the absolute good, containing the cosmos of intelligible beings.
  2. Chiefly British Good sense; shrewdness: "Hillela had the nous to take up with the General when he was on the up-and-up again" (Nadine Gordimer).
ETYMOLOGY:
Greek


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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition.
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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