Where does “intelligence” come from?
Intelligence comes from Old French intelligence, derived from Latin intelligentia, meaning the capacity to understand or discern.
intelligence (English): Capacity of mind, especially to understand...
Definitions
- Capacity of mind, especially to understand...
Ancestry of “intelligence”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | intelligence | Comprehension, intelligence; the ability to understand |
| 2 | Old French | intelligence | comprehension; meaning; ability to comprehend |
| 3 | Latin | intelligentia | Alternative form of intellegentia |
| 4 | Latin | intelligēns | — |
| 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... |
Words derived from “intelligence”
- intel
- counterintelligence
- SIGINT
- HUMINT
- Lintel
- ELINT
- intelligencer
- unintelligence
- Wintel
- superintelligence
- lintelled
- intelligencing
- nonintelligence
- misintelligence
- hyperintelligence
- extelligence
- cyberintelligence
- intelligence
- counter-intelligence
- SOCMINT
- social media intelligence
- intelligencelike
- intelijen
- co-intelligence