Noun

(uncountable) Capacity of mind, especially to understand principles, truths, facts or meanings, acquire knowledge, and apply it to practice; the ability to learn and comprehend.

* 1912 , (Edgar Rice Burroughs), (Tarzan of the Apes), Chapter 5

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.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author= Ian Sample

, volume=189, issue=6, page=34, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains , passage=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.}}

(countable) An entity that has such capacities.

* Tennyson

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

(uncountable) Information]], usually secret, about the enemy or about hostile [[activity, activities.

(countable) A political or military department, agency or unit designed to gather information, usually secret, about the enemy or about hostile activities.

(dated) Acquaintance; intercourse; familiarity.

* Clarendon

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

Noun

(uncountable) The quality or state of being competent, i.e. able or suitable for a general role.

* 2005 , Lies Sercu and Ewa Bandura, Foreign Language Teachers and Intercultural Competence: An International Investigation :

Teachers are now required to teach intercultural communicative competence .

(countable) The quality or state of being able or suitable for a particular task; the quality or state of being competent for a particular task.

* 1961 , National Council for Elementary Science (U.S.), Science Education :

What professional competences do science teachers need?

A sustainable income.

* Alexander Pope

Reason's whole pleasure, all the joys of sense, / Lie in three words — health, peace, and competence .

* 1811 , Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility , chapter 17

“money can only give happiness where there is nothing else to give it. Beyond a competence , it can afford no real satisfaction, as far as mere self is concerned.”

(countable) In law, the legal authority to deal with a matter.

That question is out with the competence of this court and must be taken to a higher court.