Where does “unintelligent” come from?
Unintelligent derives from English intelligent, which comes from Middle French intelligent, from Latin intelligens, meaning "understanding" or "perceiving," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots related to selection and understanding.
unintelligent (English): Not intelligent
Definitions
- Not intelligent
Ancestry of “unintelligent”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | intelligent | Of high or especially quick cognitive capacity,... |
| 2 | Middle French | intelligent | — |
| 3 | Latin | intelligēns | — |
| 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... |