pensée

Pensée is a French noun that means thought, thinking, or an idea. It can refer to a mental act (a reflection) or to the content of that act (a thought or opinion). The plural pensées generally denotes thoughts or ideas collectively. In everyday language the term is used across contexts from philosophy to literature and rhetoric, and it appears in fixed expressions such as penser à.

Etymology: pensée derives from the verb penser (to think) and ultimately from Latin roots associated with weighing, reflecting the notion of weighing one’s thoughts. The feminine noun form reflects standard French noun formation.

In literature and philosophy, the word appears in several contexts. The most famous is Blaise Pascal’s Pensées, a collection of fragments on theology and epistemology published posthumously in 1670, drawing on questions of reason, faith, and the human condition.

In horticulture, pensée is the French name for the pansy, a flowering plant of the Viola genus. In English, "pansy" is the common name, and the French term is used in horticultural labeling and gardens in France and other French-speaking regions.

Modern usage includes phrases such as penser à (to think of) and pensée positive (positive thinking). In general, pensée remains a core term in French for topics relating to cognition, reflection, and the contents of the mind.