INTELLIGENCE

Meaning

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.

Etymology

Origin: Middle English

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁én Proto-Indo-European *-tér Proto-Indo-European *h₁n̥tér Proto-Italic *n̥ter Latin inter Latin inter- Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *léǵeti Proto-Italic *legō Latin legō? Proto-Indo-European *h₂leg- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *h₂légeti Proto-Italic *legō? Latin intellegō Latin intellegēns Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ia Latin intellegentia Old French intelligencebor. Middle English intelligence English intelligence From Middle English intelligence, from Old French intelligence, from Latin intelligentia, which is most likely from inter- (“between”) + legere (“to choose, pick out, read”). Doublet of intelligentsia.

Synonyms & Antonyms

NYT Puzzle Appearances

No published puzzle dates on file for this word yet. It is part of the official NYT Spelling Bee word list for 2022.