intelligencer

C2+ Topic:Word Formation & Derivatives

US /ɪnˈtɛlɪdʒənsɚ/ UK /ɪnˈtɛlɪdʒənsə/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
one who conveys news or secret information; an informer or spy (archaic)

The court kept an intelligencer in every rival capital.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · one who conveys news or... informer spy agent scout emissarynewsmonger

Word family

Related forms intelligence intelligent intelligentsia

Etymology

From intelligence + -er; intelligence from Latin intelligentia ('understanding'), from intellegere ('to understand'), from inter- ('between') + legere ('to choose, read').

intelligentia Latin intellegere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Word Formation & Derivatives Register & Style General Vocabulary

External links

# intelligencer

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ɪnˈtɛlɪdʒənsɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ɪnˈtɛlɪdʒənsə/

## Meanings
1. one who conveys news or secret information; an informer or spy (archaic)

## Examples
- The court kept an intelligencer in every rival capital.

## Synonyms
- informer
- spy
- agent
- scout
- emissary
- newsmonger

## Related Forms
- intelligence
- intelligent
- intelligentsia

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: intelligentia
- Root: intellegere

## Etymology
From intelligence + -er; intelligence from Latin intelligentia ('understanding'), from intellegere ('to understand'), from inter- ('between') + legere ('to choose, read').

## AI Etymology
intelligencer comes from intelligence + -er; intelligence from Latin intelligentia ('understanding'), from intellegere ('to understand'), from inter- ('between') + legere ('to choose, read'). Morphologically, the ending is part of the etymology: the suffix is attached to the older base named in the history, producing a later English derivative. In present English, the noun sense is "one who conveys news or secret information; an informer or spy (archaic)", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as intelligence, intelligent, and intelligentsia. Its semantic neighborhood includes informer, spy, agent, and scout, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Latin intelligentia and Latin intellegere.

## Topics
- Word Formation & Derivatives
- Register & Style
- General Vocabulary

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