intellective

Intellective is an adjective relating to the intellect or to the faculties of reasoning and understanding. It is used to describe matters connected with rational thought, abstract knowledge, and the process of understanding, rather than with sensation or volition. The word derives from Latin intellectus, meaning understanding.

In philosophy and theology, especially in scholastic thought, intellective powers are those of the mind that grasp universal concepts, form judgments, and perform operations of reason. This contrasts with appetitive or sensory powers, which govern desires and perception. In medieval discussions, the intellect was treated as a distinct faculty of the soul capable of abstract knowing; modern writers may use intellective to distinguish cognitive processes from affective or motor ones.

In psychology and education, intellective is sometimes used to refer to tasks, tests, or abilities that require reasoning and problem-solving, as opposed to non-intellective tasks that rely on perceptual speed or motor skills. In such contexts, intellective functioning or intellective skills describe cognitive capacities like memory, abstraction, and logical inference, often assessed by standardized intelligence scales or problem-solving measures.

Today, intellective is relatively specialized and less common in everyday language; it remains encountered in philosophy, historical discussions of the soul, and in academic descriptions of cognitive testing. Synonyms include intellectual, cognitive, rational, and understanding-related.