- intrinsic
- late 15c., "interior, inward, internal," from M.Fr. intrinsèque (13c.) "inner," from M.L. intrinsecus "interior, internal," from L. intrinsecus (adv.) "inwardly, on the inside," from intra "within" + secus "alongside," originally "following" (related to sequi "to follow"). Meaning "belonging to the nature of a thing" is from 1640s.