Etymologically
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talent

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ta.lɑ̃/[1]

Forms

talent m (plural talents)[1] Old French talant (about 980), talent from about 1050.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin talentum (“a Greek weight; a sum of money”), from Ancient Greek τάλαντον (tálanton, “pan of a scale; weight; sum of money”).[3][5][1][6] The Greek word belongs to an Indo-European root meaning “to bear, carry”, also found in Latin tollō (“to lift”).[3][7]

The medieval sense “desire, will” has been explained as a metaphor from the weight that tips the balance, or by a direct borrowing of the Greek word in the sense “inclination”.[4][7] The modern sense “gift, aptitude” comes from the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14), in which two servants make their master's talents bear fruit while the third buries his; scholastic Latin already used the word for a natural gift, as in Abelard.[8][3][2] Cognate with Italian talento, Catalan talent and Spanish talento.[9][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Passion de Clermont (end of the 10th century) talant means a state of mind, a disposition or anger, and also desire or will: Vostres talenz ademplirai, “I will fulfil your wishes”.[5][4]

Semantic evolution

In Old French talent meant desire, wish or will, as in the Chanson de Roland (n'unt talent qu'il li faillent), and also mood or temper.[5][7][10] As a term of antiquity it named the Greek weight and sum of money from about 1170 (Livre des Rois); the sense “coin” is found in the 16th century.[3][2]

From the 14th century it was used for a faculty or aptitude, and in the mid-16th century for the gifts of the Holy Spirit;[5][8] Bloch and Wartburg note that the sense spread only after the Reformation.[5][8] In the 17th century talent lost the sense “desire” and took that of a natural gift, and, from 1624 a particular aptitude in an activity, especially an artistic one.[7][11][8] The adjective talentueux dates from 1881.[8]

Timeline

  • End of the 10th century – Talant “disposition; desire” in the Passion de Clermont.[5]
  • c. 1050 – Talent in the Vie de saint Alexis.[2][5]
  • c. 1170 – The Greek weight, in the Livre des Rois.[3][2]
  • 14th century – A faculty or aptitude.[5]
  • 1624 – “Aptitude in an activity”.[11][8]
  • 1762 – The Académie records enfouir son talent.[2]
  • 1881 – Talentueux.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (antiquity) A talent, a Greek unit of weight of 20 to 27 kilograms; a money of account of that weight in gold or silver.[11][5]
  2. A natural gift, an aptitude or knack: il a le talent de….[11][1]
  3. Marked ability in an activity, especially an art: un écrivain de talent.[11]
  4. A talented person.[11][12]
  5. Enfouir son talent: not to make use of one's gifts.[5][2]

Word family

  • talentueux

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/1, 36b
  7. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  11. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  12. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)