noun

• (obsolete) Tension; straining, stretching.
  "cold in those inner parts, cold belly, and hot liver, causeth crudity, and intention proceeds from perturbations […]."
• (obsolete) A stretching or bending of the mind toward an object or a purpose (an intent); closeness of application; fixedness of attention; earnestness.
  "it is attention: when the mind with great earnestness, and of choice, fixes its view on any idea, considers it on all sides, and will not be called off by the ordinary solicitation of other ideas, it is that we call intention or study"
• (obsolete) The object toward which the thoughts are directed; end; aim.
  "In a Word, the most part of chronical Distempers proceed from Laxity of Fibres; in which Case the principal Intention is to restore the Tone of the solid Parts; […]."
• (obsolete) Any mental apprehension of an object.