intellectual

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: in=tel=lec=tu=al

CIDE DICTIONARY

intellectual, a. [L. intellectualis: cf. F. intellectuel.].

•  Belonging to, or performed by, the intellect; mental; as, intellectual powers, activities, etc.  [1913 Webster]

  "Logic is to teach us the right use of our reason or intellectual powers."  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  "Who would lose,
  Though full of pain, this intellectual being,
  Those thoughts that wander through eternity?"  [1913 Webster]
•  Suitable for exercising the intellect; formed by, and existing for, the intellect alone; perceived by the intellect; as, intellectual employments.  [1913 Webster]
•  Relating to the understanding; treating of the mind; as, intellectual philosophy, sometimes called “mental” philosophy.  [1913 Webster]

intellectual, n. 

•  The intellect or understanding; mental powers or faculties.  [1913 Webster]

  "Her husband, for I view far round, not nigh,
  Whose higher intellectual more I shun."  [1913 Webster]

  "I kept her intellectuals in a state of exercise."  [1913 Webster]
•  A learned person or one of high intelligence;  [PJC]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

intellectual, adj. & n.
--adj.
1 of or appealing to the intellect.
2 possessing a high level of understanding or intelligence; cultured.
3 requiring, or given to the exercise of, the intellect.
--n. a person possessing a highly developed intellect.

Derivative

intellectuality n. intellectualize v.tr. & intr. (also -ise). intellectually adv.

Etymology

ME f. L intellectualis (as INTELLECT)

THESAURUS

intellectual

Brahmin, academic, academician, affective, authority, bookish, brain, brainy, bright, cerebral, characteristic, conceptive, conceptual, constitutional, discursive, dispositional, doctor, egghead, elder, elder statesman, elitist, emotional, endopsychic, experimental scientist, expert, genius, great soul, guru, highbrow, highbrowed, ideational, illuminate, illuminati, innate, intellect, intellectualistic, intelligence, intelligent, internal, knowing, literati, lover of wisdom, mahatma, man of intellect, man of science, man of wisdom, mandarin, master, mastermind, mental, mentor, noetic, noological, not so dumb, oracle, philosopher, phrenic, polymath, practical scientist, professor, psychic, psychical, psychologic, psychological, pundit, rabbi, rational, reasonable, reasoning, rishi, sage, sane, sapient, savant, scholar, scholarly, scientist, seer, sensible, sophic, spiritual, starets, strong-minded, subjective, technologist, temperamental, thinker, thinking, thought-provoking, thoughtful, understanding, wise man, wise old man

ROGET THESAURUS

intellectual

Vigor

N vigor, power, force, boldness, raciness, intellectual, force, spirit, point, antithesis, piquance, piquancy, verve, glow, fire, warmth, strong language, gravity, sententiousness, elevation, loftiness, sublimity, eloquence, command of words, command of language, vigorous, nervous, powerful, forcible, trenchant, incisive, impressive, sensational, spirited, lively, glowing, sparkling, racy, bold, slashing, pungent, piquant, full of point, pointed, pithy, antithetical, sententious, lofty, elevated, sublime, eloquent, vehement, petulant, impassioned, poetic, in glowing terms, in good set terms, in no measured terms, thoughts that breath and words that burn.

Intellect

N intellect, mind, understanding, reason, thinking principle, rationality, cogitative faculties, cognitive faculties, discursive faculties, reasoning faculties, intellectual faculties, faculties, senses, consciousness, observation, percipience, intelligence, intellection, intuition, association of ideas, instinct, conception, judgment, wits, parts, capacity, intellectuality, genius, brains, cognitive powers, intellectual powers, wit, ability, wisdom, Vernunft, Verstand, soul, spirit, ghost, inner man, heart, breast, bosom, penetralia mentis, divina particula aurae, heart's core, the Absolute, psyche, subliminal consciousness, supreme principle, brain, organ of thought, seat of thought, sensorium, sensory, head, headpiece, pate, noddle, noggin, skull, scull, pericranium, cerebrum, cranium, brainpan, sconce, upper story, central processing unit, CPU, arithmetic and logical unit, ALU, metaphysics, psychics, psychology, ideology, mental philosophy, moral philosophy, philosophy of the mind, pneumatology, phrenology, craniology, cranioscopy, ideality, idealism, transcendentalism, spiritualism, immateriality, universal concept, universal conception, metaphysician, psychologist, intellectual, mental, rational, subjective, metaphysical, nooscopic, spiritual, ghostly, psychical, psychological, cerebral, animastic, brainy, hyperphysical, superphysical, subconscious, subliminal, immaterial, endowed with reason, in petto, ens rationis, frons est animi janua, locos y ninos dicen la verdad, mens sola loco non exulat, my mind is my kingdom, stern men with empires in their brains, the mind, the music breathing from her face, thou living ray of intellectual Fire.

Curiosity

N curiosity, interest, thirst for knowledge, thirst for truth, curiosity, curiousness, inquiring mind, inquisitiveness, omnivorous intellect, devouring mind, inquirer, sightseer, quidnunc, newsmonger, Paul Pry, eavesdropper, gossip, rubberneck, intellectual, seeker, seeker after truth, curious, inquisitive, burning with curiosity, overcurious, inquiring, prying, snoopy, nosy, peering, prurient, inquisitorial, inquisitory, curious as a cat, agape, what's the matter? what next? consumed with curios, curiosity killed the cat, satisfaction brought it back, curiouser and curiouser.

Sage

N sage, wise man, genius, master mind, master spirit of the age, longhead, thinker, intellectual, longhair, authority, oracle, luminary, shining light, esprit fort, magnus Apollo, Solon, Solomon, Nestor, Magi, second Daniel, man of learning, expert, wizard, wiseacre, bigwig, know-it-all, poor man's Einstein, venerable, reverenced, emeritus, barba tenus sapientes.