intelligence

Noun

intelligence (countable and uncountable, plural intelligences)

1. (uncountable) The capacity of mind, especially to understand principles, truths, facts or meanings, acquire knowledge, and apply it to practice; the ability to comprehend and learn; the ability to process sentient experience to generate true beliefs with a justified degree of confidence.
   • Not so, however, with Tarzan, the man-child. His life amidst the dangers of the jungle had taught him to meet emergencies with self-confidence, and his higher intelligence resulted in a quickness of mental action far beyond the powers of the apes.1912 October, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Tarzan of the Apes”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as chapter 5, in Tarzan of the Apes, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert]...
   • 1936 Feb., F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Crack-Up", Esquire: ...the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.

   Synonyms:

   brightness, intellect, smartness, wit

   Antonyms:

   unintelligence

   1. An individual's expected relative performance in a cognitive test.
      • intelligence quotient
      • Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits.2013 July 19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34
   2. (uncountable) The quality of making use or having made use of such capacities: depth of understanding, mental quickness.
      • From a religious point of view, a bodhisattva with sharp faculties and great intelligence can cause a tremendous upheaval if he or she misuses that power under the influence of negative emotions, like attachment and hatred.2018, Dalai Lama, translated by Dhondup Tsering, Introduction to Buddhism, →ISBN, page 8
2. (countable) An entity that has such capacities.
   • The great Intelligences fair
     That range above our mortal state,
     In circle round the blessed gate,
     Received and gave him welcome there.1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto LXXXIII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 118
   • The living intelligence, the Martian within the hood, was slain and splashed to the four winds of heaven, and the thing was now but a mere intricate device of metal whirling to destruction.1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: Heinemann, page 102

   Synonyms:

   sentient, sapient, sophont

3. (uncountable) Information, often secret, about an enemy or about hostile activities.
   • Their lack of good intelligence also meant that they vastly overestimated the size of their foes for far too long, hails of armor-piercing shells doing comparatively little damage compared to the high explosive that they should have been using.2019 February 27, Drachinifel, 40:01 from the start, in The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?, archived from the original on 03 Nov 2022
   1. (countable) A political or military department, agency or unit designed to gather information, usually secret, about the enemy or about hostile activities.
4. (dated) Acquaintance; intercourse; familiarity.
   • Yet Josephus tells us of Phiala, a ſpring[…] into which Philip the Tetrarch caſt chaffe to try the experiment, and it was rendred up again into the ſtreame of Iordan. Whence he concluded, that this river entertained an underground intelligence with that fountain.1650, Thomas Fuller, A Pisgah-Sight of Palestine and the Confines Thereof, London, page 106
   • He liv’d rather in a fair Intelligence than any Friendſhip with the Favourites;[…]1702, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, book I, in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], volume I, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the [Sheldonian]...