Etymologically
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talented

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈtæl.ən.tɪd/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from talent and the suffix -ed.[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Middle English, naturally inclined or disposed to something: 1422 in the OED,[5] early 15th century in Etymonline, of a predisposition to a vice.[2] This sense is only in late Middle English.[4]

Semantic evolution

The early sense goes with the 15th-century verb talent, “to predispose”, and talentive, “willing, eager” (late 14th century).[2] In heraldry talented was a rare term for bezanty, decorated with coin-like disks (1486), from talent as a coin or weight.[5][2] Endowed with talent, gifted or accomplished, is from before 1633,[5] the 1630s in Etymonline,[2] and was established in the early 19th century.[4] Bartlett's Dictionary of Americanisms (1848) records that the word was then attacked in Britain: a London magazine of 1831 blamed Mr Stanley for it, Sir Robert Peel ascribed it to American associations, and the Edinburgh Review called it a pseudo-participle.[6]

Timeline

  • 1422 – disposed, inclined.[5]
  • 1486 – bezanty, in heraldry.[5]
  • before 1633 – gifted.[5]
  • 1831 – criticized in a London magazine.[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Having a natural aptitude or skill for something; gifted.

Word family

  • nontalented
  • untalented
  • multitalented

Usage notes

Bartlett quotes a Philadelphia newspaper that agreed the word was bad but said it was of London Cockney origin and more used in Britain than America.[6]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Bartlett, John Russell (1848), Dictionary of Americanisms, New York: Bartlett and Welford