Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “intelligent” come from?

Intelligent comes from Middle French intelligent, from Latin intelligens (understanding), derived from Latin intellego (to understand, literally to choose between), from Latin lego (to gather, read).

intelligent (English): Of high or especially quick cognitive capacity,...

Definitions

  1. Of high or especially quick cognitive capacity,...

Ancestry of “intelligent”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchintelligent—
2Latinintelligēns—
3Latinintellegō—
4Latinlegō—
5Latinlēx—
6Proto-Italiclēg-—
7Proto-Indo-Europeanleǵ-s—
8Proto-Indo-Europeanleǵ-to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to...

Words derived from “intelligent”

  • intelligently
  • unintelligent
  • unintelligently
  • superintelligent
  • nonintelligent
  • hyperintelligent
  • intelligentness
Every word from Proto-Indo-European leǵ- →