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You are here: Home / CM Tooltip Glossary / Nous

Nous

19 March 2016 By Andrew

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The word “nous” (generally pronounced to rhyme with “house” in the UK and to rhyme with “moose” in the US) is a transliteration of the Ancient Greek word νοῦς, a very important word in the literature of the ascetic fathers. (It is not to be confused with the derivative word of the same English spelling meaning “common sense”.)

It has been variously translated into English as “mind” or “intellect”, among other things, and is sometimes described as the “eye of the heart”. The dictionary definition also describes it as “intuitive apprehension”. We prefer to use the original Greek word, feeling that any translation is misleading. The nous is the centre of our soul, or heart — the point at which we can be connected most directly to God.

The adjective formed from the word “nous” is “noetic”.

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