intellect

intellect

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin intellēctus (“understanding, intellect”), perfect passive participle of Latin intellegō (“understand; reason”), from inter (“between, among”) + legō (“read”), with connotation of bind.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪntəlɛkt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

intellect (countable and uncountable, plural intellects)

1. (uncountable) The faculty of thinking, judging, abstract reasoning, and conceptual understanding; the cognitive faculty.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:intelligence

   Intellect is one of man's greatest powers.

2. (uncountable) The capacity of that faculty (in a particular person).

   They were chosen because of their outstanding intellect.

   • 1983, “Intelligence”, in Shiver, performed by Virna Lindt:

     Arms of stripes and shirts of checks / You had a very nice intellect

3. A person who has that faculty to a great degree.

   Synonym: intellectual

   Some of the world's leading intellects were meeting there.

Related terms

• intellectual
• intellectualism
• intellectualize
• intelligence
• intelligent
• intelligentsia
• intelligible

Translations

The faculty of knowing and reasoning; understanding

Armenian: բանականություն (hy) (banakanutʿyun), խելք (hy) (xelkʿ) Avar: гӏакълу (ʻaqxʼlu) Bashkir: аҡыл (aqıl) Belarusian: інтэле́кт m (inteljékt) Bulgarian: интелект (bg) m (intelekt) Catalan: intel·lecte (ca) m Chinese: Cantonese: 思力 (sī lihk) Mandarin: 思力 (zh) (sīlì) Chuvash: ӑс (ăs) Finnish: äly (fi) Galician: intelecto m German: Intellekt (de) m Gothic: 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌸𐌹 f (fraþi) Hindi: बुद्धि (hi) f (buddhi) Hungarian: ész (hu) Italian: intelletto (it) m Japanese: 知性 (ja) (ちせい, chisei)、思考力 (しこうりょく, shikōryoku) Korean: 지혜 (ko) (jihye) Kyrgyz: эс (ky) (es) Latin: intellectus m Lezgi: акьул (aq̇ul) Maori: ihomatua, hirikapo Mongolian: оюун ухаан (ojuun uxaan), оюун (mn) (ojuun) Navajo: bíniʼ Ossetian: зонд (zond) Polish: intelekt (pl) m Portuguese: intelecto (pt) m Romanian: intelect (ro) m Russian: интелле́кт (ru) m (intellékt), ра́зум (ru) m (rázum), ум (ru) m (um) Sanskrit: मनस् (sa) n (manas) Spanish: intelecto (es) m Tausug: akkal Turkish: entelekt (tr) Ukrainian: інтеле́кт m (intelékt) Welsh: dealltwriaeth f

That faculty in a particular person

Armenian: խելք (hy) (xelkʿ) Bulgarian: ум (bg) m (um), разсъдък (bg) m (razsǎdǎk) Latin: intellectus m Navajo: bíniʼ Portuguese: intelecto (pt) m Romanian: intelect (ro) m

A person who has that faculty in great degree

Bulgarian: интелектуалец m (intelektualec) Finnish: älykkö (fi), ajattelija (fi) Maori: ihumanea Portuguese: intelectual (pt) m or f Romanian: intelectual (ro) m, intelectuală (ro) f Russian: интеллектуа́л (ru) m (intellektuál)

See also

• mind

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin intellēctus (“understanding, intellect”), perfect passive participle of Latin intellegō (“understand; reason”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.tɛ.lɛkt/, /ɛ̃.te.lɛkt/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

intellect m (plural intellects)

1. (psychology, philosophy) intellect

Related terms

• intellectuel

See also

• affect

Further reading

• “intellect”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.