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Intelligentsia

4 stages from Latin to English.

Today it means intellectuals considered as a group or class

Where does the word "intelligentsia" come from? It comes from Latin intellegentia, passing through Polish and Russian before entering English (1900s).

1
Stage 1 of 4
intellegentia
Latin · classical
"understanding, discernment"
'understanding', from intellegere 'to perceive'; Cicero's De Inventione lists it with memory and foresight as the three parts of prudence
2
Stage 2 of 4
inteligencja
Polish · 1844
"the educated class"
the philosopher Karol Libelt, in his 1844 essay 'On Love of the Fatherland', used it for the educated class that should lead the partitioned nation
3
Stage 3 of 4
intelligentsiya
Russian · 1860s
"educated class"
the novelist Pyotr Boborykin claimed to have brought the word into Russian in the 1860s; it came to mean the radical, reform-minded educated class
4
Stage 4 of 4
intelligentsia
English · 1900s
"intellectuals as a class"
Western writers adopted it for Russia's intellectuals around the 1905 Revolution, then for intellectuals anywhere
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Read the full story

Intelligentsia’s story begins in Latin: intellegentia meant “understanding, discernment.” 'understanding', from intellegere 'to perceive'; Cicero's De Inventione lists it with memory and foresight as the three parts of prudence. By 1844, the word had taken hold in Polish as inteligencja. The philosopher Karol Libelt, in his 1844 essay 'On Love of the Fatherland', used it for the educated class that should lead the partitioned nation. From there it passed into Russian as intelligentsiya by 1860s. The novelist Pyotr Boborykin claimed to have brought the word into Russian in the 1860s; it came to mean the radical, reform-minded educated class. It reached English by 1900s as intelligentsia. Western writers adopted it for Russia's intellectuals around the 1905 Revolution, then for intellectuals anywhere. Today, intelligentsia means intellectuals considered as a group or class.