知的
ちてき · chiteki · JLPT N1 · na-adj
intellectual
🧠 知 = know, 的 = -al suffix: know + al = intellectual (知的 = knowing-related)
知 (chi) means know, as in 知識 (chishiki, knowledge). 的 (teki) is an adjective suffix like -al in 'mental'. So 知的 means relating to knowing, which is intellectual.
的 — white 白 + ladle 勺
Originally a phono-semantic compound: 白 ('white') gave the meaning of bright or clear, and 勺 supplied the sound. It once meant 'bright' or 'target' (still seen in 目的, 'aim'). In modern Chinese it was borrowed as a grammatical particle marking possession or modification.