talento

talento¹ ancient weight and coin

Etymology tree of talento¹

inherited borrowed derived

Latin talentum

French talent

Italian talento

Pronunciation

• /taˈlɛn.to/^[4]

Forms

talento m (plural talenti)^[4]

Etymology

The weight is a learned word, borrowed from Latin talentum (“a talent, a weight; a sum of money”), borrowed from Ancient Greek τάλαντον (tálanton).^[1][5][3][2] The Greek word meant “balance, the scale of a balance”, then “weight” and “sum of money”; the money sense prevailed in Italian because of the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14–30.^[1][2]

The Greek word is related to tollō (“to lift”) and comes from Proto-Indo-European *telh₂- (“to bear, to lift”).^[5][2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first records are 14th-century: the Zibaldone Andreini, an Italian translation of Ovid and Jacopo Passavanti.^[1][2]

Semantic evolution

Domenico Cavalca and Boccaccio used it in retelling the gospel parables of debt and of the talents.^[6] In historical writing the word names the Greek unit of 60 minas, whose weight varied with place and time, and the coin of Greece and Palestine.^[1][7]

Timeline

• 14th century – Talento “Greek weight” in Passavanti and the Ovid translation.^[1]

Meanings

Noun

1. (history) A talent, an ancient unit of weight used by the Greeks, Babylonians and Hebrews.^[3][7][8]
2. (history) A coin of ancient Greece and Palestine, of varying value.^[3][7][8]

talento² desire; gift, ability

Pronunciation

• /taˈlɛn.to/^[4]

Forms

talento m (plural talenti)^[4]

Etymology

The sense “desire” came from Occitan or French: DELI and the GDLI see it as borrowed from Old Occitan talen or Old French talent (“desire, will”), from the same Latin talentum.^[1][6][4] Bembo already recognised the Occitan origin, and the word was common in the poetry of the Sicilian school.^[1] DELI suggests two routes for the sense: the Greek meaning “inclination (of a balance)”, kept in Provence, where Greeks had settled, or a metaphor drawn from the gospel parable.^[1] Nocentini, DEI and Prati derive both “desire” and “gift” from the parable, in which a master gives his servants talents according to their ability.^[5][2][9] Meyer-Lübke also finds the Romance spread clearly due to the parable, and doubts a direct descent from Greek in Provence.^[10]

Migliorini described the history as two waves of the figurative use: “desire, will”, spread from Provence in the Middle Ages, and “natural or acquired aptitude”, which appeared here and there in Italy and France but became common only in the Renaissance.^[1][5] Irish glosses of the 7th–8th century already have Old Irish talland “faculty of the mind”.^[2][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Ritmo di Sant'Alessio (late 12th century, Marche), in the sense “desire, strong wish”: lu su talentu condonanno.^[11][6] DELI dates “desire” to Iacopo Mostacci (13th century) and “intelligence, ability” to Brunetto Latini (before 1294).^[1]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian talento meant desire or will and formed many phrases: avere in talento “to want”, essere a talento “to please”, contro talento “unwillingly”, and mal talento “ill will”.^[11][2] Dante wrote that the lustful “subject reason to desire” (che la ragion sommettono al talento).^[12]

The sense “ability” was condemned by the purists in the 19th century, and Galileo had avoided the word.^[1] It prevailed nonetheless, and, from Italian came French talent “ability” (17th century) and talentueux.^[2] By extension talento names a gifted person.^[3][7]

Timeline

• Late 12th century – Talentu “desire” in the Ritmo di Sant'Alessio.^[11]
• 13th century – Iacopo Mostacci and Cielo d'Alcamo use talento “desire”.^[1][2]
• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses it for “ability”.^[1]
• 1294 – Talentare “to please” is recorded.^[5]
• Before 1742 – Fagiuoli uses talentaccio.^[1]

Meanings

Noun

1. talent, a marked natural gift or ability: Ha talento per il disegno.^[3][7][8]
2. A talented person: Quella ragazza è un vero talento.^[3][7][8]
3. (literary) Desire, will: andare a talento, to please.^[3][7][13]
4. (literary) Disposition, mood.^[3][7]

Word family

• talentoso
• talentare
• talentaccio
• maltalento
• attalentare