Definition of "intelligence"

Not so, however, with Tarzan, the man-child. His life amidst the dangers of the jungle had taught him to meet emergencies with self-confidence, and his higher intelligence resulted in a quickness of mental action far beyond the powers of the apes.

1912 October, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Tarzan of the Apes”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co.; republished as chapter 5, in Tarzan of the Apes, New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt Company, 1914 June,

...the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.

1936 Feb., F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Crack-Up", Esquire

Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits. ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.

2013 July 19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34

From a religious point of view, a bodhisattva with sharp faculties and great intelligence can cause a tremendous upheaval if he or she misuses that power under the influence of negative emotions, like attachment and hatred.

2018, Dalai Lama, translated by Dhondup Tsering, Introduction to Buddhism, page 8

The great Intelligences fair / That range above our mortal state, / In circle round the blessed gate, / Received and gave him welcome there.

1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], canto LXXXV

The living intelligence, the Martian within the hood, was slain and splashed to the four winds of heaven, and the thing was now but a mere intricate device of metal whirling to destruction.

1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 102

But there are latent powers within man alone that are not yet fully understood and [...] we cannot definitely state what is, and what is not, due to the interference or influence of discarnate intelligences.

1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 275

He passes beyond the projections and thought forms of his own creation to the wholly other and independent world of the angelic intelligences.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 228

Their lack of good intelligence also meant that they vastly overestimated the size of their foes for far too long, hails of armor-piercing shells doing comparatively little damage compared to the high explosive that they should have been using.

2019 February 27, Drachinifel, 40:01 from the start, in The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?‎, archived from the original on 3 November 2022

He lived rather in a fair intelligence than any friendship with the favourite

1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, “(please specify |book=I to XVI)”, in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the Theater, published 1707