intelligence

English

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Wikipedia

Etymology

From Old French intelligence.

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɪnˈtɛl.ɪˌd​͡ʒəns/
  • Audio (US)
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Noun

intelligence (countable and uncountable; plural intelligences)

  1. (uncountable) Capacity of mind, especially to understand principles, truths, facts or meanings, acquire knowledge, and apply it to practice; the ability to learn and comprehend.
    • 1912, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes, Chapter 5
      Not so, however, with Tarzan, the man-child. His life amidst the dangers of the jungle had taught him to meet emergencies with self-confidence, and his higher intelligence resulted in a quickness of mental action far beyond the powers of the apes.
  2. (countable) An entity that has such capacities.
  3. (uncountable) Information, usually secret, about the enemy or about hostile activities.
  4. (countable) A political or military department, agency or unit designed to gather information, usually secret, about the enemy or about hostile activities.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

capacity of mind
entity that has such capacities
information about the enemy
a department, agency or unit designed to gather such information
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French

Etymology

From Latin intellegentia (“the act of choosing between, intelligence”), from intellegō (“understand”), from inter (“between”) + legō (“choose, pick out, read”).

Pronunciation

Noun

intelligence f (plural intelligences)

  1. intelligence; cleverness
  2. comprehension
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Italian

Etymology

English intelligence.

Noun

intelligence f (invariable)

  1. A political or military department, agency or unit designed to gather information.
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Middle French

Noun

intelligence f (plural intelligences)

  1. intelligence
  2. comprehension
    • 1595, Michel de Montaigne, Essais, book II, chapter 10:
      Je souhaiterois avoir plus parfaicte comprehension des choses, mais je ne la veux pas achepter si cher qu’elle couste.
      I would like to have a more perfect knowledge of everything, but I don't want to buy it for how much it costs
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Old French

Noun

intelligence f (oblique plural intelligences, nominative singular intelligence, nominative plural intelligences)

  1. comprehension
  2. meaning
  3. ability to comprehend

Descendants

References

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Last modified on 19 May 2013, at 18:38