intelligence
in·tel·li·gence/ɪnˈtɛl.ɪ.d͡ʒəns/noun
intelligence is spelled I-N-T-E-L-L-I-G-E-N-C-E, 4 syllables: in·tel·li·gence. The wrong spelling people search most is inteligence: about 210 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 23 of all searches for the word. Intelligence is a noun meaning “The capacity of mind, especially to understand principles, truths, facts or meanings, acquire knowledge, and…”. The plural of intelligence is intelligences.
How many letters and syllables are in intelligence?
| Letters | 12: I-N-T-E-L-L-I-G-E-N-C-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: in·tel·li·gence |
| In writing | 50 times per million words; the 2,041st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, inteligence, about 210 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell intelligence?
Intelligence is spelled I-N-T-E-L-L-I-G-E-N-C-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 23 of the searches for intelligence in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is intelligence?
Intelligence appears 50 times per million words in written English, the 2,041st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce intelligence?
- /ɪnˈtɛl.ɪ.d͡ʒəns/
Intelligence has 4 syllables, split in·tel·li·gence in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-intelligence.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of intelligence
- intelligences plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does intelligence mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
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.
- 2
An individual's expected relative performance in a cognitive test.
intelligence quotient
- 3
The quality of making use or having made use of such capacities: depth of understanding, mental quickness.
- 4
An entity that has such capacities.
- 5
Information, often secret, about an enemy or about hostile activities.
- 6
A political or military department, agency or unit designed to gather information, usually secret, about the enemy or about hostile activities.
- 7
datedAcquaintance; intercourse; familiarity.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate intelligence?
Wiktionary records 3 abbreviations of intelligence: INT, ISR, int.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Intelligence in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | intelligence , renseignements |
| German | Intelligenz, Klugheit , Geheimdienstinformationen , intelligentes Leben , Geheimdienst, Nachrichtendienst |
| Portuguese | inteligência |
| Spanish | inteligencia, sabiola (Americanism) , información |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.