Where does “intellectual” come from?
Intellectual derives from Old French intellectuel, from Latin intellectualis, from Latin intellectus meaning "understanding," from Latin intellego meaning "to understand," from Latin lego meaning "to gather or read," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European wel- meaning "to turn or roll."
intellectual (English): Pertaining to, or performed by, the intellect;...
Definitions
- Pertaining to, or performed by, the intellect;...
Ancestry of “intellectual”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | intellectuel | — |
| 2 | Latin | intellectualis | intellectual |
| 3 | Latin | intellēctus | understood; realized |
| 4 | Latin | intellegō | to understand, comprehend, realize, come to know |
| 5 | Latin | legō | to collect, gather, bring together, catch |
| 6 | Latin | lēx | a proposition or motion for a law made to the people by a magistrate, a bill |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | lēg- | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | leǵ-s | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | leǵ- | to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to... |
Words derived from “intellectual”
- intellectually
- intellectualism
- intellectuality
- intellectualist
- pseud
- unintellectual
- intellectualization
- intellectualize
- intellectualistic
- nonintellectual
- antiintellectual
- antiintellectualism
- intellectualisation
- pseudointellectual
- overintellectualize
- intellectualness
- overintellectual
- hyperintellectual
- superintellectual
- unintellectually
- pseudointellectualism
- deintellectualization
- subintellectual
- intellectualish