PERMANENT SOURCE RECORD
ALL SOURCES ↗BIBLIOGRAPHIC IDENTITYmw-intelligent
SOURCE
RECORD.
One work. Every claim that depends on it. No citation without a consequence you can inspect.
16 PUBLIC LINKS INTO THE GRAPH.
This count excludes duplicate dossier-path citations. Open the claims below to see exactly how the source is used.
historical dictionarymw-intelligent
Intelligent — Word History
- AUTHOR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
- YEAR
- 2026
- PUBLISHER
- Merriam-Webster
- DOI
- Not recorded
- SOURCE TYPE
- historical dictionary
- EXTERNAL RECORD
- OPEN ORIGINAL ↗
013
CONTRARIAN TRUTH CLAIMS
RANKED REVEALS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
RANK 165GRADE Asupports
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: Latin intelligent-, intelligensDocuments direct Latin participial ancestry for the adjective.
intelligent dossier ↗truth record ↗85UNVEILING
RANK 209GRADE A−supports
Intellect belongs to the gather-and-select family.
Latin morphology connects understanding with inter- and legere, the gather, select, and read family—but the historical pieces are not a complete theory of cognition.
*leǵ-
*leǵ- → legere → intellegere / intelligere → intellectus → intellecte → intellect
Word History: inter- plus legereDocuments the traditional gather/select morphology.
intellect dossier ↗truth record ↗78UNVEILING
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
intelligens; inter- plus legereDocuments the Latin morphological analysis as between or among plus gather or choose.
intelligence dossier ↗truth record ↗74UNVEILING
023
SCHOLARLY DISAGREEMENT
DISPUTE POSITIONS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
opensupportsprobable
Does intelligence literally mean “choosing between”?
The Latin form is traditionally analyzed through inter- and legere, and selection or discernment informs the semantic history. A literal gloss is not a complete account of cognition.
inter- + legerePublishes the Latin morphological analysis behind intelligens.
resolvedsupportsprobable
Does intellect literally mean “choosing between”?
The morphology of intellegere is traditionally analyzed through inter- and legere, and selection informs the semantic history. That slogan is not a complete theory of cognition.
Word History: inter- plus legereDocuments the traditional morphological analysis.
resolvedsupportsestablished
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: Latin intelligent-, intelligensDocuments the adjective's direct Latin participial ancestry.
033
CANONICAL RELATIONSHIP CLAIMS
EDGES THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
EDGE 72supportsestablished
intelligēns → intellegere / intelligere
Latin → Latin · inflection
- SOUND
- intelligēns is the present participial formation of intellegere / intelligere.
- MEANING
- The one understanding supplies the adjective and abstract noun family.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Latin lexicography
intelligensEDGE 73supportsprobable
intellegere / intelligere → legere
Latin → Latin · derivation
- SOUND
- Latin intellegere is traditionally analyzed as inter- plus legere, with phonological assimilation.
- MEANING
- Selecting or discerning among becomes understanding; the exact semantic bridge should not be over-literalized.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster · Latin lexicography
inter- + legereMorphological analysis.
EDGE 402supportsestablished
intelligent → intelligēns
Present-Day English → Latin · borrowing
- SOUND
- English intelligent adapts the Latin participial stem intelligent- with English stress, vowel, and final-consonant treatment.
- MEANING
- Latin understanding and discernment become the English adjective for mental capacity, judgment, and later computer-guided behavior.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster · American Heritage editors
Word History and First Known UseDocuments direct Latin participial ancestry and circa-1540 English use.
041
LEXICAL ATTESTATIONS
WITNESSES REPORTED BY THIS SOURCE
intelligentSOURCE-REPORTED
intelligent
Merriam-Webster source-reported English record
OPEN WITNESS 113 ↗053
COMPARATIVE EVIDENCE
COGNATES, DESCENDANTS, AND RELATIVES
intelligent
Englishadjective from the same understanding verb
intelligent
Englishsame immediate Latin family
legend
Englishmore distant Latin legere descendant
063
GEOGRAPHIC AND TEMPORAL CLAIMS
JOURNEY STAGES THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
stage 2supports
Roman world
Documents the Latin understanding family.
Word History: Latin intelligens and intellegere · broadstage 3supports
England
Reports circa 1540 for English intelligent.
First Known Use · regionalstage 4supports
Global English
Documents the English horizon and modern mental and computer-guided senses.
Definitions and First Known Use · global070
NON-GENEALOGICAL CONNECTIONS
HISTORICAL CONTEXT, KEPT SEPARATE
No non-genealogical context link currently cites this source.
083
WORD-FAMILY REUSE
DOSSIERS THAT DEPEND ON THIS SOURCE
6 entry-scoped citations map reviewed dossier paths onto the canonical claims above.