inteligível

Forms

inteligível m or f (plural inteligíveis)^[1] Sixteenth-century texts write jnteligiuel (1532), inteligibel (1548), enteligeueis (1550) and intelegibil.^[2][3] From Bluteau to Figueiredo the dictionaries spell it intelligivel, after the Latin.^[4][5][6]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin intelligibilis (“that can be understood”), recorded from 1510.^[2][3][1] Nascentes calls it semi-learned.^[7] The Latin adjective, also written intellegibilis, is formed on intellegō (“to understand”) with the suffix -bilis.^[8] The verb is a compound of inter- and legō (“to choose, gather”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record is from 1510.^[2] Cunha puts the word and its variant intelegibil in the 16th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712–1728) gives two senses, “that can be understood or perceived”, as the philosophers use it, and “easy to understand”.^[4] Morais in 1813 illustrates the everyday sense with notions, terms and expressions.^[5] Figueiredo in 1899 also records it as a noun, “that which is intelligible”.^[6] In philosophy it names what is known by the intellect and not by the senses, the opposite of sensível.^[10][2]

Timeline

• 1510 – first record.^[2]
• 1532 – spelt jnteligiuel;^[2] inteligibel in 1548 and enteligeueis in 1550.^[2]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau, spelling it intelligivel, separates the philosophical and the everyday senses.^[4]
• 1789 – Morais defines it as “that is understood; clear”.^[11]
• 1899 – Figueiredo records the noun use.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Easy to understand; clear, compreensível: uma explicação inteligível.^[2][12]
2. That can be heard distinctly: falava em voz pouco inteligível.^[2][13]
3. (philosophy) Knowable only by the intellect, not by the senses; opposed to sensível.^[2][10]
4. (philosophy) Logically contained in a general principle already known.^[2][10]

Noun

1. (philosophy) That which is an object of thought and cannot be known through the senses.^[13][14]

Word family

• ininteligível
• inteligibilidade

Related words

• inteligência
• inteligente
• entender
• Latin intellegō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. inteligível
3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. inteligível
4. ^ a b c Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. intelligível
5. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 170
6. ^ a b c Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 765
7. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. inteligível
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. intellegibilis
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. intellegō
10. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. inteligível
11. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 727
12. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. inteligível
13. ^ a b Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. inteligível
14. ^ Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. inteligível