PERMANENT SOURCE RECORD
ALL SOURCES ↗BIBLIOGRAPHIC IDENTITYmw-intelligence
SOURCE
RECORD.
One work. Every claim that depends on it. No citation without a consequence you can inspect.
12 PUBLIC LINKS INTO THE GRAPH.
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historical dictionarymw-intelligence
Intelligence — Word History
- AUTHOR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
- YEAR
- 2026
- PUBLISHER
- Merriam-Webster
- DOI
- Not recorded
- SOURCE TYPE
- historical dictionary
- EXTERNAL RECORD
- OPEN ORIGINAL ↗
012
CONTRARIAN TRUTH CLAIMS
RANKED REVEALS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
RANK 165GRADE Acontext
Intelligent did not descend from English intelligence.
English intelligent is borrowed from a Latin present participle. Intelligence follows a sibling French and Latin abstract-noun route; the words meet deeper than modern English.
*leǵ-
*leǵ- → legere → intellegere / intelligere → intelligent-, intelligēns → intelligent
Word History: French and Latin intelligentiaDocuments the sibling abstract-noun route for English intelligence.
intelligent dossier ↗truth record ↗85UNVEILING
RANK 214GRADE A−supports
Intelligence belongs to the gather-and-select family.
Latin morphology links discernment to inter- plus legere—but the root is not a theory of mind.
*leǵ-
*leǵ- → legere → intellegere / intelligere → intelligēns → intelligentia → intelligence → intelligence
Etymology; French and Latin stagesDocuments the historical path of intelligence through French and Latin.
intelligence dossier ↗truth record ↗74UNVEILING
022
SCHOLARLY DISAGREEMENT
DISPUTE POSITIONS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
resolvedsupportsestablished
How did intelligence become secret information?
The word already meant understanding and knowledge; news and strategic information developed from that information sense, later naming the services that gather it.
Etymology and First Known UseDocuments the historical development of intelligence, including information and intelligence-gathering senses.
resolvedcontextestablished
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 History: French and Latin intelligentiaDocuments the English noun's distinct abstract-noun transmission route.
033
CANONICAL RELATIONSHIP CLAIMS
EDGES THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
EDGE 69supportsestablished
intelligence → intelligence
Present-Day English → French · borrowing
- SOUND
- English borrowed the French abstract noun with later pronunciation change.
- MEANING
- Understanding expands into news, strategic information, and the organizations that obtain it.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster editors
Etymology and First Known UseEDGE 70supportsestablished
intelligence → intelligentia
French → Latin · borrowing
- SOUND
- French transmitted Latin intelligentia.
- MEANING
- Understanding and discernment remain central.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster editors
French and Latin stagesEDGE 71supportsestablished
intelligentia → intelligēns
Latin → Latin · derivation
- SOUND
- The abstract noun intelligentia is formed on the participial stem intelligent-.
- MEANING
- A discerning or understanding quality becomes an abstract capacity.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Latin lexicography
intelligentia041
LEXICAL ATTESTATIONS
WITNESSES REPORTED BY THIS SOURCE
intelligenceSOURCE-REPORTED
intelligence
Middle English lexical record
OPEN WITNESS 19 ↗052
COMPARATIVE EVIDENCE
COGNATES, DESCENDANTS, AND RELATIVES
counterintelligence
Englishmodern compound descendant
intelligence
Englishsibling abstract noun from the same Latin participial family
062
GEOGRAPHIC AND TEMPORAL CLAIMS
JOURNEY STAGES THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
stage 3supports
France and England
Traces Middle English through Middle French to Latin intelligentia and dates first known English use to the fourteenth century.
Word History: Etymology and First Known Use · regionalstage 4supports
Global cognitive and state systems
Documents cognitive, informational, espionage, and measurement senses; modern computing examples are contextual usage and do not establish a single semantic start year.
Definitions 1–7 and Medical Definition · global070
NON-GENEALOGICAL CONNECTIONS
HISTORICAL CONTEXT, KEPT SEPARATE
No non-genealogical context link currently cites this source.
082
WORD-FAMILY REUSE
DOSSIERS THAT DEPEND ON THIS SOURCE
3 entry-scoped citations map reviewed dossier paths onto the canonical claims above.