Etymologically
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intellectualis

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪn.tɛl.leːk.tuˈaː.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [in.tel.lek.tuˈaː.lis][1]

Forms

intellēctuālis (neuter intellēctuāle); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin intellēctus (“understanding”) + -ālis.[1][2][3] The noun intellēctus is the past participle of intellegō (“to understand, discern”) used as a noun.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tertullian is the first certain author to use it:[2][5] in his treatise on the soul he sets the bodily senses beside the intellectual ones (sensus corporales et intellectuales).[2] The TLL marks an earlier instance in Apuleius' work on Plato as doubtful.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a word of Christian and philosophical prose:[2][3] Tertullian, Martianus Capella and Augustine use it of what belongs to the mind or the understanding, often in contrast with the senses (sensualis, corporalis).[2][3][6] It was also said of beings endowed with understanding, and used as a noun in the plural.[2]

Medieval Latin kept the senses “intelligent” and “of the intellect” and added “spiritual”.[7][8] In Thomas Aquinas it describes what belongs to the supersensible part of human nature, a synonym of intelligibilis and rationalis and the opposite of sensibilis.[9] English took the word over in the late 14th century as intellectual, “grasped by the understanding”, from Old French and directly from Latin.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian contrasts the bodily senses with the intellectual ones.[2][5]
  • 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it in his literal commentary on Genesis.[10][3][5]
  • 5th century AD – Martianus Capella uses it.[3][11][5]
  • 798 – Alcuin writes in a letter of the “intellectual ears” of his reader.[12]
  • late 14th century – English borrows it as intellectual.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of the intellect or understanding, intellectual, as opposed to the senses.[2][10][13]
  2. Endowed with understanding, intelligent.[2][7]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Spiritual.[7]
  4. (scholastic) Supersensible, belonging to the higher part of human nature.[9]

Word family

  • intellectualitas

Usage notes

The adverb intellēctuāliter “intellectually” occurs in Claudianus Mamertus.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  9. ^ a b Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh
  10. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  11. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  12. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  13. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson