to open one's mind
- phrasal verb
:
abrir la mente
- Many people find that traveling can help them open their minds to unfamiliar ideas and ways of life.
Examples
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Open your mind to this kind of work.
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You know, if you would just open your mind to new ideas, I could show you so much.
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Maybe if you open your mind, you could find some peace, too.
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Open your mind to other possibilities.
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You should open your mind and your taste buds a bit more, Michael.
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It is the nature of the school that you hear a lot of talk about opening your mind and the value of a rounded education.
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It bothers me for the young people who are being deprived of anything that could open their minds.
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If you open your mind to different cultures, you will enrich your understanding of the world.
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To grow as a person, you must learn to open your mind to new experiences and perspectives.
Synonyms
9
3.7
Understand things in another way than other people
5
3.7
To learn new things and try new experiences
How Receptive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to become receptive to new ideas' is directly derivable from combining 'open' (to make receptive or allow access) with 'mind' (the faculty of thinking); 'one's' simply marks possession. This mental-container metaphor (open the mind) is highly regular and cross-linguistically common (e.g. Spanish abrir la mente, French ouvrir l'esprit), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will very likely infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
Open one's mind paints a simple picture: imagine opening a window so fresh air and light can come into a closed room, and to open your mind is to let new ideas enter. So it means 'to be willing to accept new ideas or viewpoints'.