Standard Lemma guide

intelligible

adj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: /ɪnˈtɛləd͡ʒəbəl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɛlədʒəbəl
  • CMU ARPABET: IH2 N T EH1 L AH0 JH AH0 B AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Capable of being understood; clear to the mind.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Italian and Spanish are partially mutually intelligible languages.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective

Meaning 2

well articulated or enunciated, and loud enough to be heard distinctly

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • intelligible pronunciation

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: unintelligible

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

capable of being apprehended or understood

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: apprehensible, graspable, perceivable, understandable

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle French intelligible, from Old French, from Latin intelligibilis.

Across languages

Translations

43 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: بائِن (bāʔin) — capable of being understood
  • Arabic: بَيّن — capable of being understood
  • Arabic: مُبِين (mubīn) — capable of being understood
  • Arabic: مُتّضِح — capable of being understood
  • Arabic: مُتَجَلٍ (mutajalin) — capable of being understood
  • Arabic: وَضّاح (waḍḍāḥ) — capable of being understood
  • Bulgarian: разбираем (razbiraem) — capable of being understood
  • Bulgarian: понятен (ponjaten) — capable of being understood
  • Catalan: intel·ligible — capable of being understood
  • Chinese Mandarin: 可理解的 (kělǐjiě de) — capable of being understood
  • Czech: srozumitelný — capable of being understood
  • Dutch: verstaanbaar — capable of being understood
  • Dutch: begrijpelijk — capable of being understood
  • Esperanto: komprenebla — capable of being understood
  • Estonian: arusaadav — capable of being understood
  • Finnish: ymmärrettävä — capable of being understood
  • French: intelligible — capable of being understood
  • Galician: intelixíbel — capable of being understood
  • German: einleuchtend — capable of being understood
  • German: verständlich — capable of being understood
  • Greek: νοητός (noïtós) — capable of being understood
  • Greek: καταληπτός (kataliptós) — capable of being understood
  • Irish: sothuigthe — capable of being understood
  • Irish: intuigthe — capable of being understood
  • Italian: intelligibile — capable of being understood
  • Korean: 이해할 수 있는 (ihaehal su inneun) — capable of being understood
  • Macedonian: поимлив (poimliv) — capable of being understood
  • Maltese: fhumi — capable of being understood
  • Manx: so-hoiggal — capable of being understood
  • Norwegian: forståelig — capable of being understood
  • Persian: مفهوم (mafhum) — capable of being understood
  • Polish: zrozumiały — capable of being understood
  • Portuguese: inteligível — capable of being understood
  • Romanian: inteligibil — capable of being understood
  • Russian: вразуми́тельный (vrazumítelʹnyj) — capable of being understood
  • Russian: поня́тный (ponjátnyj) — capable of being understood
  • Russian: умопостига́емый (umopostigájemyj) — capable of being understood
  • Spanish: inteligible — capable of being understood
  • Swedish: begriplig — capable of being understood
  • Turkish: açık — capable of being understood
  • Turkish: anlaşılır — capable of being understood
  • Turkish: idrâk edilebilir — capable of being understood
  • Turkish: anlaşılabilir — capable of being understood
Real reading context

intelligible in complete knowledge articles