Where does “intelligentsia” come from?
intelligentsia (Dutch) comes from Russian интеллиге́нция, from Polish inteligencja, from Latin intellegentia, from Latin intellegēns, from Latin intellegō, from Latin legō, from Latin lēx, from Proto-Italic lēg- — to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to...
Ancestry of “intelligentsia”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Russian | интеллиге́нция | intelligentsia the intellectual elite of a society, particularly in Marxist doctrine |
| 2 | Polish | inteligencja | intelligence; intelligentsia |
| 3 | Latin | intellegentia | intelligence, the power of discernment;... |
| 4 | Latin | intellegēns | understanding, realizing |
| 5 | Latin | intellegō | to understand, comprehend, realize, come to know |
| 6 | Latin | legō | to collect, gather, bring together, catch |
| 7 | Latin | lēx | a proposition or motion for a law made to the people by a magistrate, a bill |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | lēg- | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | leǵ-s | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | leǵ- | to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to... |