intellect
[in-tl-ekt]
- the power or faculty of the mind by which one knows or understands, as distinguished from that by which one feels and that by which one wills; the understanding; the faculty of thinking and acquiring knowledge.
- capacity for thinking and acquiring knowledge, especially of a high or complex order; mental capacity.
- a particular mind or intelligence, especially of a high order.
- a person possessing a great capacity for thought and knowledge.
- minds collectively, as of a number of persons or the persons themselves.
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Origin of intellect
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin intellēctus, equivalent to intelleg(ere) to understand + -tus suffix of v. action; see intelligent
Synonyms
See more synonyms for intellect on Thesaurus.com1. reason, sense, common sense, brains. See mind.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for intellect
Contemporary Examples
As in the case of Turner, the core of the intellect is missing.
Anyone with the intellect of a ping-pong ball should understand how opportunistic that whistleblowing looks.
He brought that intellect to bear on the chaotic bits and pieces (and people) of Animal House.
They had a problem with my intellect, and they had a problem with my choice of lovers.
But then I got a lot of insulting comments questioning my intellect.
Historical Examples
This boasted power of intellect—this giddy triumph of beauty—what do they do for you?
PhilotheaLydia Maria Child
Conscience, he said, was the soul's safeguard, and reason the safeguard of the heart and intellect.
Life in LondonEdwin Hodder
For him the intellect as such is the organ of religious truth.
Understanding the ScripturesFrancis McConnell
At other times the contests are only of the intellect and the mind, but are equally remarkable.
The DreamEmile Zola
His intellect was a blank; he had no knowledge, no desires, no affections.
The Works of Whittier, Volume VII (of VII)John Greenleaf Whittier
intellect
- the capacity for understanding, thinking, and reasoning, as distinct from feeling or wishing
- a mind or intelligence, esp a brilliant onehis intellect is wasted on that job
- informal a person possessing a brilliant mind; brain
- those possessing the greatest mental powerthe intellect of a nation
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Word Origin
C14: from Latin intellectus comprehension, intellect, from intellegere to understand; see intelligence
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for intellect
n.
late 14c. (but little used before 16c.), from Old French intellecte "intellectual capacity" (13c.), and directly from Latin intellectus "discernment, a perception, understanding," from noun use of past participle of intelligere "to understand, discern" (see intelligence).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper