adjective
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able to be understood; comprehensible
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philosophy
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capable of being apprehended by the mind or intellect alone
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(in metaphysical systems such as those of Plato or Kant) denoting that metaphysical realm which is accessible to the intellect as opposed to the world of mere phenomena accessible to the senses
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Other Word Forms
- half-intelligible adjective
- half-intelligibly adverb
- intelligibility noun
- intelligibleness noun
- intelligibly adverb
- self-intelligible adjective
- semi-intelligible adjective
- semi-intelligibly adverb
Etymology
Origin of intelligible
1350–1400; Middle English from Latin intelligibilis, equivalent to intellig- ( intelligent ) + -ibilis -ible
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I was fiddling with my phone during both expressions of loyalty, nervous that I wouldn’t get an intelligible recording of Mr. Paxton’s remarks.
And references to the original run notwithstanding — appletinis, “Star Wars,” a certain closet — it’s intelligible and funny on its own terms , and as full of love as ever.
From Los Angeles Times
Every two years, teenagers from northern Canada, Alaska and Greenland gather for Arctic games, many of them descended from indigenous peoples who once spoke mutually intelligible languages.
Art criticism is about writing, a fundamental way to process that mystery, aiming to discover something at least temporarily intelligible.
From Los Angeles Times
It’s simply that you’ve got to do so with intelligible principles.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
