CS Knowledge Base

From intense +‎ -ity. Cf. also Medieval Latin intensitas.

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈtɛnsɪti/

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intensity (countable and uncountable, plural intensities)

1. The quality of being intense.
   • 2017 June 12, Betsy Klein, quoting Ivanka Trump, “Ivanka Trump: ‘There is a level of viciousness that I was not expecting’”, in CNN‎^[1], archived from the original on 20 July 2017:

     “It is hard. And there is a level of viciousness that I was not expecting. I was not expecting the intensity of this experience, but this isn’t supposed to be easy. My father and this administration intends to be transformative, and we want to do big, bold things and we’re looking to change the status quo. So I didn’t expect it to be easy. I think some of the distractions and some of the ferocity was — I was a little blindsided by on a personal level,” she said.

2. The degree of strength.
   • 1980, Ann Jefferson, “[Character and the age of suspicion] Unforgettable figures: Portrait d’un inconnu and Le voyeur”, in The Nouveau Roman and the Poetics of Fiction, Cambridge, Cambs: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 66:

     The painting’s dislocated, unformed features are the very opposite of the hard, painted dolls of the other portrait, and, where they are dead and ready to topple, this unknown man’s eyes are full of intensity and life.

   • 2011, Peter A. Thomas, “General Forest Ecological Processes: Chapter 10 from Trees and Forests, a Color Guide”, in Arnoldia, volume 68, number 3, Boston, MA: Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, page 22:

     Fagus sylvatica (European beech) and Acer saccharum (sugar maple, from North America) are very tolerant of deep shade, while Betula spp. (birches) and Populus spp. (poplars) grow best under high light intensities.

3. (physics) Time-averaged energy flux (the ratio of average power to the area through which the power "flows"); irradiance.
4. (optics) Any of radiant intensity, luminous intensity or irradiance.
5. (astronomy) Synonym of radiance.
6. (geology) The severity of an earthquake in terms of its effects on the earth's surface, and buildings. The value depends on the distance from the epicentre, and is not to be confused with the magnitude.

• intense