intellectual class; educated stratum
Refers to the segment of society engaged in intellectual or academic pursuits; often used in sociological or historical contexts.
This issue is being debated among the intellectual class.
He comes from an educated background.
知識人 refers to an individual intellectual, whereas 知識層 refers to the collective social stratum.
Compound of 知識 (knowledge) and 層 (stratum, layer). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term follows a common pattern for describing social strata.