intellectual
pronunciation
How to pronounce intellectual in British English:
UK [ˌɪntəˈlektʃuəl]
How to pronounce intellectual in American English:
US [ˌɪntəˈlektʃuəl]
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- Noun:
- a person who uses the mind creatively
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- Adjective:
- of or relating to the intellect
- of or associated with or requiring the use of the mind
- appealing to or using the intellect
- involving intelligence rather than emotions or instinct
Word Origin
- intellectual (adj.)
- late 14c., "grasped by the understanding" (rather than by the senses), from Old French intellectuel and directly from Latin intellectualis "relating to the understanding," from intellectus "discernment, understanding," from past participle stem of intelligere "to understand, discern" (see intelligence). Intellectual property attested from 1845. Other adjective formations included intellective (late 15c.), intellectile (1670s).
- intellectual (n.)
- 1590s, "mind, intellect," from intellectual (adj.); sense of "an intellectual person" is from 1650s. Related: Intellectuals.
Synonym
scholar literate savant pundit philosophe academician pedant bibliophile cognoscente thinker aesthete highbrow pantologist schoolman theorist bookworm bluestocking philosopher connoisseur
Antonym
Example
- 1. What will happen to our intellectual property ?
- 2. I always wanted to read and do intellectual things .
- 3. Love influences sophisticated intellectual processes of the brain too .
- 4. Would it not be an intellectual and moral suicide ?
- 5. Both clerics have said things that betray a degree of intellectual sympathy with the protesters .