intellect

 
Pronunciation: /ˈɪntəlɛkt/

noun

[mass noun]
  • the faculty of reasoning and understanding objectively, especially with regard to abstract matters: he was a man of action rather than of intellect
  • [count noun] a person’s mental powers: her keen intellect
  • [count noun] a clever person: sapping our country of some of its brightest intellects

Origin:

late Middle English: from Latin intellectus 'understanding', from intellegere 'understand' (see intelligent)