intelligentsia
UK/in,teli'dʒentsiə/US/in.teli'dʒetsiә/
C2
Definitions
n.
The class of educated, intellectual people in a society, often seen as a cultural or political force
知识分子阶层；知识界（常指有文化、有影响力的精英群体）
Root Breakdown
Loanwordintel-between, among
+
-entperforming, being in a state
+
-siasuffix
=intelligentsia
Built on intelligent (inter- 'between' + leg 'choose/read' = one who reads between things, discerns), but the word itself is a Russian borrowing: intelligentsiya entered English around 1900 to name the educated, idea-driven class in Tsarist Russia. The -sia is the Russified collective ending, not a Latin suffix.
Root lect still carries 128 more wordsExample Sentences
- 1.
The novel was admired by the urban intelligentsia but ignored by the wider public.
- 2.
A new intelligentsia emerged from the country's expanding universities.