intellect
UK /ˈɪntəlɛkt/ · US /ˈɪntəˌlɛkt/ noun
Forms intellects
- noun (uncountable) The faculty of thinking, judging, abstract reasoning, and conceptual understanding; the cognitive faculty. “Intellect is one of man's greatest powers.”
- noun (uncountable) The capacity of that faculty (in a particular person). “They were chosen because of their outstanding intellect.”
- noun A person who has that faculty to a great degree. “Some of the world's leading intellects were meeting there.”
Synonyms
brain brains cleverness head brightness esprit intelligence mind nous psyche reason smartness smarts wit judgment intellectual understanding
Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin intellēctus (“understanding, intellect”), from Latin intellegō (“understand; reason”), from inter (“between, among”) + legō (“read”), with connotation of bind.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The part or faculty of the human soul by which it knows, as distinguished from the power to feel and to will; sometimes, the capacity for higher forms of knowledge, as distinguished from the power to perceive objects in their relations; the power to judge and comprehend; the thinking faculty; the understanding.
Etymology [L. intellectus, fr. intelligere, intellectum, to understand: cf. intellect. See Intelligent.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “intellect”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details