intelligent, a. and n.
(ɪnˈtɛlɪdʒənt)
[ad. L. intelleg-, intelligent-em, pr. pple. of intellegĕre (later intelligĕre) to see into, perceive, understand, f. inter between, within + legĕre to bring together, gather, pick out, choose, catch up, catch with the eye, read. Cf. F. intelligent (Cotgrave, 1611).]
A. adj.
1. Having the faculty of understanding; possessing intelligence or intellect.
| 1598 Florio, Intelligente, intelligent, knowing, vnderstanding, skilful. 1615 J. Stephens Satyr. Ess. 128 Philosophy hath divided our soules faculty; and makes the Intelligent part our principall essence. 1736 Butler Anal. i. iii. 62 The work of an intelligent mind. 1830 Herschel Stud. Nat. Phil. 5 When he contemplates..the thoughts, acts, and passions of this his sentient intelligent self. 1881 Darwin Vegetable Mould ii. 97 If worms have the power of acquiring some notion, however rude, of the shape of an object and of their burrows, as seems to be the case, they deserve to be called intelligent. 1890 C. L. Morgan Anim. Life & Intelligence ix. 372, I regard the bees in their cells..as workers of keen perceptions and a high order of practical intelligence. But I do not..believe that they reason upon the phenomena they deal with so cleverly. Intelligent they are; but not rational. |
2. Having a high degree or full measure of understanding; quick to understand; knowing, sensible, sagacious.
| 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xi. (Percy Soc.) 40 O what pleasure to the intelligent It is to knowe and have perceyveraunce Of theyr connyng. a 1626 Bacon (J.), It is..in order of nature for him to govern that is the more intelligent. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. §199 How acceptable soever to grave and intelligent Persons. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. i. iv. §14. 258 The more intelligent of the Greekish pagans did frequently understand by Zeus that supreme unmade Deity who was the maker of the world. 1796 Burke Regic. Peace ii. Wks. VIII. 150 By far the most intelligent statesmen. 1837 Penny Cycl. IX. 61/2 The spaniels..and the hounds which comprise the most useful and intelligent dogs. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. i. I. 83 After the fashion of intelligent and well educated gentlemen. |
| Comb. 1830 Moore Mem. (1854) VI. 143 A fine..intelligent-spoken old fellow. 1863 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 168 He is a good, intelligent-looking man. |
b. Of action, speech, etc.: Showing a high (or fair) degree of understanding.
| 1842 J. C. Calhoun Wks. IV. 66 [They] tell us, in language too intelligent to be mistaken, that they intend [etc.]. 1891 Speaker 2 May 534/1 All who take an intelligent interest in the growth of education. |
3. That understands or knows (a particular thing, circumstance, or subject); cognizant of; acquainted with; versed in.
| 1546 St. Papers Hen. VIII, XI. 95 A conspiracion..in the wich the said Secretary shold be intelligent. 1652 H. Cogan tr. Scudery's Ibrahim iii. i. 32 They were intelligent with your carrying away. 1653 ― Scarlet Gown 133 He is..most intelligent in the Civil and Cannon Lawes. 1665 G. Havers P. della Valle's Trav. E. India 57 Skill'd in the Indian Tongue, and perfectly intelligent of these matters. 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 427 Part..rang'd in figure, wedge thir way, Intelligent of seasons, and set forth Thir Aierie Caravan. 1791 Cowper Iliad ii. 1040 She ceased; her Hector heard intelligent. 1858 Sat. Rev. VI. 606/2 Those who are capable of fairness..susceptible of justice, intelligent of liberty. |
† 4. ‘Bearing intelligence, giving information, communicative’ (Schmidt Shaks. Lex.). Obs.
| 1605 Shakes. Lear iii. i. 25 Seruants..Which are to France the Spies and Speculations Intelligent of our State. Ibid. iii. v. 12 An intelligent partie to the aduantages of France. Ibid. iii. vii. 12 Our Postes shall be swift, and intelligent betwixt vs. 1611 ― Wint. T. i. ii. 378 Do you know, and dare not? Be intelligent to me. |
5. Of a device or machine: able to vary its behaviour in response to varying situations and requirements and past experience; spec. (esp. of a computer terminal) having its own data-processing capability; incorporating a microprocessor. Cf. dumb a. 7 c.
| 1969 C. Machover in Fairman & Nievergelt Pertinent Concepts Computer Graphics 182 Because economical general purpose computers are now available, the ‘intelligent’ terminal almost always uses such a computer for both a refresh memory and the other functions. 1978 Pract. Computing July–Aug. 55/3 Also available on the Tandberg TDV-2114, an intelligent terminal with stand-alone computing capability, is the Logica Commercial BASIC. 1979 Financial Times 19 Feb. 15/7 The emphasis of the market will continue to shift from large machines to terminals (particularly so-called ‘intelligent terminals’ which include some computing power). 1983 McGraw-Hill Yearbk. Sci. & Technol. 1984 21/1 Intelligent mobile robots can be used in space as planetary exploratory vehicles. 1984 Times 20 Mar. 14/8 The ‘intelligent pig’..enabled engineers to monitor the national gas grid system for defects. 1985 Computing Equipment Sept. 46/4 Anyone with a personal computer can now produce labels, nameplates, tags and tickets, in-house, using the plug compatible Intacs 5200 series intelligent imprinters. 1986 Keyboard Player Apr. 27/1 An intelligent masterkeyboard..allows control, via MIDI, of up to eight synthesizers in all registrations. |
B. n.
1. An intelligent or rational being; = intelligence 4. b. A person of intelligence. Now rare.
| 1601 Gill Trinity in Sacr. Philos. (1625) 218 An Infinite intelligible, cannot be conceived of an Infinite intelligent, but by an Infinite action of the understanding. 1669 Gale Crt. Gentiles i. i. i. 3 God..must of necessitie also be the first intelligent. 1719 Waterland Vind. Christ's Div. ix. (1720) 172 Unless one infinite Intelligent be made up of Unintelligents or finite Intelligents. 1892 Athenæum 2 July 26/2 Karpoff and Garin.. depict to us the self-conscious troubles and failures of our ‘intelligents’ in search of rest for their souls. |
† 2. One who is cognizant of something; a recipient of intelligence or information; a hearer. Obs.
| 1508 Fisher 7 Penit. Ps. Prol., That the intellygentes of the sayd sermons may be gladder in the path of ryghtwysness. |
† 3. One who conveys intelligence or information; an intelligencer; a spy. Obs.
| 1600 W. Watson Decacordon (1602) 65 By..apprehension of their messengers, or some of their inferior intelligents. 1643 5 Yrs. K. James in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) V. 352 The Irish..hearing of these misdemeanors, for they have their intelligents here also, began to grow obstinate. 1751 tr. Beau-Philosopher 60, I had been Fool enough to have believed the heavenly Intelligent [= angel]. |
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▸ Designating any of various forms of electronic dance music which are more complex, challenging, or abstract than the music considered typical of the genre. Chiefly preceding the name of a genre, as intelligent dance music, intelligent drum'n'bass, intelligent techno, etc.
| 1991Re: Coil Snow EP in rec.music.industrial (Usenet newsgroup) 6 Nov. Essentially, the whole thing is sorta ‘Intelligent Techno’ oriented. It's clearly dance-oriented but with interesting sound collages instead of the mindless monotony that passes as a lot of Techno these days. 1994 Billboard (Nexis) 16 July 30 A mini club symphony, riddled with numerous tempo changes and intricate passages... Required listening for fans of intelligent dance music. 1999 B. Brewster & F. Broughton Last Night DJ saved my Life (2000) xiv. 376 So drum'n'bass is really just grown-up jungle. When people got really pretentious about it, they added the prefix ‘intelligent’. 2003 Rough Guide to Rock (ed. 3) 600 Mundo Civilizado..featured Lindsay blending his more recent pop-tinged outings with the ‘new prog’ of intelligent drum'n'bass. 2006 DJ 8–21 Nov. 37/1 A figure who did more than most to legitimatise electronica and a progenitor of the dubiously titled intelligent dance music (IDM). |
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▸ intelligent design n. (the appearance of) design or creation in nature or the universe by an intelligent entity, adduced by those who believe that life is too complex to have evolved solely through by the action of natural processes (cf. design n. 4); (in later use) such a belief or theory, proposed chiefly by opponents of the theory of evolution by natural selection.
| 1847 Sci. Amer. 21 Aug. 381/2 The great store-house of nature—the innumerable and diversified objects there presented to our view give evidence of infinite skill and *intelligent design in the adaptation to each other and to the nature of man. 1868 P. A. Brady (title) The architecture of the Earth, as affording evidence of intelligent design. 1903 F. C. S. Schiller Humanism viii. 141 It will not be possible to rule out the supposition that the process of Evolution may be guided by an intelligent design. 1940 Amer. Naturalist 74 195 Evolution proceeded, it is true, according to laws of nature, but these were the workings of intelligent design. 1982 G. Priestland At Large (1983) 163 Echoing the classic Argument from Design, Hoyle concludes that the materials of life, with their amazing and complex order, cannot be accidental but must be the outcome of intelligent design. 2002 Wired July 44/1 Neo-Creo. A person who's part of the neo-creationism, or ‘intelligent design’, movement, which relies on science and logic rather than Scripture to argue that life is too complicated to have arisen by evolution. |