instinct

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
instinct

▶noun /ˈɪnstɪŋ(k)t/ 

• 1 an innate pattern of behaviour in animals in response to certain stimuli.

  ■ a natural or intuitive way of acting or thinking.

• 2 a natural propensity or skill.

▶adjective /ɪnˈstɪŋ(k)t/ (instinct with) formal imbued or filled with (a quality).

– derivatives
instinctual adjective,
instinctually adverb.

– origin ME: from L. instinctus ‘impulse’, from instinguere, from in- ‘towards’ + stinguere ‘to prick’.