τάλαντον

Forms

τᾰ́λᾰντον (tálanton) n (genitive τᾰλᾰ́ντου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *tálanton,^[1] from an older plural τάλαντα (tálanta, “scales”), properly “the bearing ones”, a formation in -ντ- (-nt-) like a participle, Proto-Indo-European *tl̥h₂ent-, from the root of ταλάσσαι (talássai, “to endure”), *telh₂- (“to bear, endure”).^[2][3][1] The singular is secondary.^[2][3]

The zero grade of the same root is found in Sanskrit तुला (tulā́, “balance”).^[2] The Mycenaean tablets have Mycenaean Greek ta-ra-si-ja, a quota of work allotted by weight, which is compared with it.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it only in the plural.^[5][2] It means a pair of scales, as in a simile of a woman weighing wool and above all of the golden scales in which Zeus weighs the fates of men, and it is a weight of gold, the “talent”, which was probably not large in Homer.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

The singular, “balance”, appears in Theognis, Aeschylus and Aristophanes, whose Frogs weighs poetry in a balance.^[5][6][2] Bacchylides and the Homeric Hymn to Hermes speak of the scales of justice.^[5][6][2] An inscription from Cyzicus of the 6th century BC uses it for a tax paid for the public scales.^[5]

From the Odyssey on the singular also means the talent, a commercial weight that varied from one system to another (about 26 kg in Attica), and the sum of money that weight of gold or silver represented.^[2][6] It is the largest unit of account in Herodotus, Thucydides and the orators.^[6][7] It was borrowed as Latin talentum.^[2][8] In the New Testament it is the large sum in the parables of the unforgiving servant and of the talents.^[9]

From that parable medieval Greek took the sense “gift of Christ”, and Modern Greek τάλαντο (tálanto), a learned word, means a natural gift, partly after the word ταλέντο (talénto); it also still names the ancient unit.^[7] English talent comes from it through Latin and Old French.^[10]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses the plural for the scales of Zeus and for talents of gold.^[5][6]
• 6th century BC – Theognis uses the singular for a balance.^[5][2]
• 6th century BC – An inscription from Cyzicus uses it for a tax paid for the public scales.^[5]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Thucydides use it for the talent as a weight and a sum of money.^[6]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it in the parable of the talents.^[9]
• Medieval Greek – It takes the sense “gift of Christ”.^[7]
• Modern Greek – The learned τάλαντο (tálanto) means a natural gift, and the ancient unit.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pair of scales, a balance; in Homer always plural, especially the scales of Zeus.^[5][6]
2. A tax paid for the use of the public scales.^[5]
3. A definite weight, the talent, in Homer always of gold.^[5][6]
4. A commercial weight, about 26 kg in Attica; the sum of money represented by that weight of gold or silver.^[6][9]

Word family

• ἀτάλαντος (atálantos)
• δεκατάλαντος (dekatálantos)
• διτάλαντος (ditálantos)
• ἑκατοντάλαντος (hekatontálantos)
• ἡμιτάλαντον (hēmitálanton)
• πεντετάλαντος (pentetálantos)
• ταλαντεία (talanteía)
• ταλαντιαῖος (talantiaîos)
• ταλαντόομαι (talantóomai)
• ταλαντοῦχος (talantoûkhos)

Related words

• ταλάσσαι (talássai)
• Latin talentum
• English talent

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ Микенско-русский словарь (Mycenaean–Russian dictionary)
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b c d Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
8. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
9. ^ a b c Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
10. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com