Term used somewhat confusingly in the work of Husserl. The noetic elements of an intentional act (such as seeing or intending) are those that are responsible for giving it its sense; for transforming inert sensory data into something with meaning. Noemata are the elements doing this conversion. Husserl’s own explanations include ‘the house-as-intended’ or ‘the tree-as-perceived’, or even ‘the noematic “object in the how”’. Although commentators have suggested various interpretations, there is no agreed reason to think that anything answers to these terms.