English
intelligence
Intelligence comes from Old French intelligence, from Latin intellegentia ‘understanding’, from intellegēns, present participle of intellegō ‘to understand’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEintellegō‘to understand’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEintellegēns‘understanding’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEintellegentia‘intelligence’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400intelligence‘comprehension’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500intelligence‘comprehension’
- Englishearliest quotation 1650intelligence
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEintellegō‘to understand’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEintellegēns‘understanding’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEintellegentia‘intelligence’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400intelligence‘comprehension’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500intelligence‘comprehension’
- Englishearliest quotation 1650intelligence
Earliest quotation: 1650, Thomas Fuller, A Pisgah-Sight of Palestine and the Confines Thereof: “Yet Josephus tells us of Phiala, a ſpring[…] into…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂leg- ‘to care for’
leech, analgesic, analgesia, 11 more
through Proto-Italic *legō
election, collection, lesson, select, collective, elite, eligible, elect, legion, collector, coil, elegant, negligible, negligence, cull, negligent, legation, diligent, ineligibility, 24 more
through Latin intellegō ‘to understand, comprehend, realize, come to know’
Today it means
noun The capacity of mind, especially to understand principles, truths, facts or meanings, acquire knowledge, and apply it to practice; the ability to comprehend and learn; the ability to process sentient experience to generate true beliefs with a justified degree of confidence.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin intellegō / intelligence