Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Intellectual
Inˊtel-lec′tu-al
(?; 135)
, Adj.
[L.
intellectualis
: cf. F. intellectuel
.] 1.
Belonging to, or performed by, the intellect; mental;
as,
intellectual
powers, activities, etc.Logic is to teach us the right use of our reason or
intellectual
powers. I. Watts.
2.
Endowed with intellect; having the power of understanding; having capacity for the higher forms of knowledge or thought; characterized by intelligence or mental capacity;
as, an
. intellectual
personWho would lose,
Though full of pain, this
Those thoughts that wander through eternity?
Though full of pain, this
intellectual
being,Those thoughts that wander through eternity?
Milton.
3.
Suitable for exercising the intellect; formed by, and existing for, the intellect alone; perceived by the intellect;
as,
. intellectual
employments4.
Relating to the understanding; treating of the mind;
as,
. intellectual
philosophy, sometimes called “mental” philosophyInˊtel-lec′tu-al
,Noun.
1.
The intellect or understanding; mental powers or faculties.
Her husband, for I view far round, not nigh,
Whose higher
Whose higher
intellectual
more I shun. Milton.
I kept her
intellectuals
in a state of exercise. De Quincey.
Webster 1828 Edition
Intellectual
INTELLECT'UAL
, a.1.
Relating to the intellect or understanding; belonging to the mind; performed by the understanding; mental; as intellectual power or operations.2.
Ideal; perceived by the intellect; existing in the understanding; as an intellectual scene.3.
Having the power of understanding; as an intellectual being.4.
Relating to the understanding; treating of the mind; as intellectual philosophy, now sometimes called mental philosophy.INTELLECT'UAL
,Noun.
Definition 2024
intellectual
intellectual
See also: intel·lectual
English
Alternative forms
- intellectuall (obsolete)
Adjective
intellectual (comparative more intellectual, superlative most intellectual)
- Belonging to, or performed by, the intellect; mental or cognitive; as, intellectual powers, activities, etc.
- Endowed with intellect; having the power of understanding; having capacity for the higher forms of knowledge or thought; characterized by intelligence or mental capacity; as, an intellectual person.
- Suitable for exercising the intellect; formed by, and existing for, the intellect alone; perceived by the intellect; as, intellectual employments.
- Relating to the understanding; treating of the mind; as, intellectual philosophy, sometimes called "mental" philosophy.
- (archaic, poetic) Spiritual.
- 1805, William Wordsworth, The Prelude, Book II, lines 331-334 (eds. Jonathan Wordsworth, M. H. Abrams, & Stephen Gill, published by W. W. Norton & Company, 1979):
- I deem not profitless those fleeting moods / Of shadowy exultation; not for this, / That they are kindred to our purer mind / And intellectual life ...
- 1805, William Wordsworth, The Prelude, Book II, lines 331-334 (eds. Jonathan Wordsworth, M. H. Abrams, & Stephen Gill, published by W. W. Norton & Company, 1979):
Antonyms
- non-intellectual
Derived terms
Terms derived from intellectual (adjective)
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Related terms
Terms etymologically related to intellectual
Translations
belonging to, or performed by, the intellect; mental or cognitive
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endowed with intellect
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spiritual — see spiritual
Noun
intellectual (plural intellectuals)
- An intelligent, learned person, especially one who discourses about learned matters.
- (archaic) The intellect or understanding; mental powers or faculties.
Derived terms
See also
Translations
intelligent person, interested in intellectual matters
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