nous

nous [nus, naʊs] n.

1.) Philosophy

a.) Reason and knowledge as opposed to sense perception.

b.) The rational part of the individual human soul.

c.) The principle of the cosmic mind or soul responsible for the rational order of the cosmos.

d.) In Stoicism, the equivalent of Logos.

e.) In Neo-Platonism, the image of the absolute good, containing the cosmos of intelligible beings.

2.) Chiefly British. Good sense; shrewdness (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language).

Etymology: Adoption of Greek νοῦς (the Attic contracted form of νόος, mind).

"Ah, think not, mistress! more true Dulness lies
In Folly's cap, than Wisdom's grave disguise;
Like buoys, that never sink into the flood,
On Learning's surface we but lie and nod.
Thine is the genuine head of many a house,
And much divinity without a nous."
The Dunciad, Alexander Pope, 1728)

(The Death of Socrates, Jacques-Louis David, 1787)