In*ten"sion (?), n. [L. intensio: cf. F. intension. See Intend, and cf. Intention.]
1.
A straining, stretching, or bending; the state of being strained; as, the intension of a musical string.
2.
Increase of power or energy of any quality or thing; intenseness; fervency.
Jer. Taylor.
Sounds . . . likewise do rise and fall with the intension or remission of the wind.
Bacon.
3. Logic & Metaph.
The collective attributes, qualities, or marks that make up a complex general notion; the comprehension, content, or connotation; -- opposed to extension, extent, or sphere.
This law is, that the intension of our knowledge is in the inverse ratio of its extension.
Sir W. Hamilton.
© Webster 1913.