SOURCE 01supportshistorical dictionary
Intelligent — Word History
Documents the adjective's direct Latin participial ancestry.
Word History: Latin intelligent-, intelligens- AUTHOR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
- YEAR
- 2026
- PUBLISHER
- Merriam-Webster
PERMANENT DISPUTE RECORD
ALL DISPUTES ↗CLAIM / COUNTERCLAIM / LIMITRECORD 126
DISPUTE
RECORD.
One scholarly question. Every attached source. The present editorial state, without pretending the last word has been written.
resolvedestablished
Was English intelligent formed from English intelligence?
No. The adjective is borrowed from Latin intelligent-, intelligens; the English noun intelligence follows its own abstract-noun transmission through French and Latin intelligentia.
WORD UNDER REVIEWDISPUTE 126
intelligent
/ɪnˈtɛlɪdʒənt/ · adjective
Having or showing understanding, judgment, or mental capacity; borrowed from the Latin participle of intellegere.
01
DIRECT CLAIM EVIDENCE
2 SOURCES WITH A STANCE
A citation is not a vote. Each record says whether the work supports, challenges, contradicts, or contextualizes the position—and identifies the exact locus used.
SOURCE 02contexthistorical dictionary
Intelligence — Word History
Documents the English noun's distinct abstract-noun transmission route.
Word History: French and Latin intelligentia- AUTHOR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
- YEAR
- 2026
- PUBLISHER
- Merriam-Webster
02 / EDITORIAL STATE
THE CURRENT RECORD IS RESOLVED.
- CONFIDENCE
- established
- STATUS
- resolved
- LEGACY SOURCE SUMMARY
- Merriam-Webster publishes different immediate histories for the adjective and noun.
The graph connects both words at their Latin family without inventing an English noun-to-adjective derivation.