Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - intrinsic

 adjective  Etymology: French intrinseque internal, from Late Latin intrinsecus, from Latin, adverb, inwardly; akin to Latin intra within — more at intra-  Date: 1635  1.  a. belonging to the essential nature or constitution of a thing the ~ worth of a gem the ~ brightness of a star  b. being or relating to a semiconductor in which the concentration of charge carriers is characteristic of the material itself instead of the content of any impurities it contains  2.  a. originating or due to causes within a body, organ, or part an ~ metabolic disease  b. originating and included wholly within an organ or part ~ muscles — compare extrinsic 1b  • ~ally adverb