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Origin and history of I.Q.

I.Q.

1922, abbreviation of intelligence quotient, a 1921 translation of German Intelligenz-quotient, coined 1912 by German psychologist William L. Stern.

Intelligence is a general capacity of an individual consciously to adjust his thinking to new requirements: it is general mental adaptability to new problems and conditions of life. [Stern, "The Psychological Methods of Testing Intelligence," 1914]

Earlier, i.q. was an abbreviation of Latin idem quod "the same as."

also from 1922

Entries linking to I.Q.

intelligence(n.)

late 14c., "the highest faculty of the mind, capacity for comprehending general truths;" c. 1400, "faculty of understanding, comprehension," from Old French intelligence (12c.) and directly from Latin intelligentia, intellegentia "understanding, knowledge, power of discerning; art, skill, taste," from intelligentem (nominative intelligens) "discerning, appreciative," present participle of intelligere "to understand, comprehend, come to know." This is from assimilated form of inter "between" (see inter-) + legere "choose, pick out, read," from PIE root *leg- (1) "to collect, gather," with derivatives meaning "to speak (to 'pick out words')."

The meaning "superior understanding, sagacity, quality of being intelligent" is from early 15c. The sense of "information received or imparted, news" is recorded by mid-15c., especially "secret information from spies" (1580s). The meaning "a being endowed with understanding or intelligence" is late 14c. Intelligence quotient is recorded by 1921 (see I.Q.).

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    quotient
    in mathematics, "the result of the process of division, quantity resulting from the division of one number by another, number of times one quantity is contained in another," mid-15c., quocient, from Latin quotiens "how often? how many times?; as often as," pronominal adverb of ti
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