intellect Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun knowledge and intellectual ability
    mind.
    • he reads to improve his mind
    • he has a keen intellect
  2. noun the capacity for rational thought or inference or discrimination
    reason; understanding.
    • we are told that man is endowed with reason and capable of distinguishing good from evil
  3. noun a person who uses the mind creatively
    intellectual.

WordNet

In"tel*lect noun
Etymology
L. intellectus, fr. intelligere, intellectum, to understand: cf. intellect. See Intelligent.
Definitions
  1. (Metaph.) The part or faculty of the human soul by which it knows, as distinguished from the power to feel and to will; sometimes, the capacity for higher forms of knowledge, as distinguished from the power to perceive objects in their relations; the power to judge and comprehend; the thinking faculty; the understanding.

Webster 1913