talentum

Forms

talentum n (genitive talentī); second declension^[1] The genitive plural is usually talentum, rarely talentōrum.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek τάλαντον (tálanton, “balance; a weight; a talent”).^[3][1][4] The Greek word is traced to Proto-Indo-European *telh₂- (“to lift, bear, weigh”).^[1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest quotation is Plautus, who has a man who brought ten talents as a dowry.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It is a Greek unit of weight of sixty minae, as Vitruvius' weight of four thousand talents, and a talent of silver as a sum of money;^[3][2][1] talentum magnum seems to be the Attic talent.^[3][2][1]

In Late Latin it was used figuratively of a gift from God,^[1] and Etymonline ties this to the parable of the talents in Matthew.^[5] In medieval Latin it is also a pound, a natural talent or aptitude, and an inclination or desire.^[6][1] English talent came through Old French from the medieval sense “inclination, will” in the late 13th century; the sense “gift, ability” developed by the mid-15th century.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a dowry of ten talents.^[3][4]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of a weight in talents.^[3][4]
• 11th century – Medieval Latin “inclination, desire”.^[5]
• late 13th century – English talent, “inclination”.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A talent, a Greek unit of weight of sixty minae.^[3][2][1][7]
2. A talent of silver as a sum of money.^[3][1]
3. (Late Latin) A gift from God, grace.^[1]
4. (Medieval Latin) A pound.^[6]
5. (Medieval Latin) A natural gift, aptitude.^[6][1]
6. (Medieval Latin) An inclination, desire.^[6][5]

Word family

• sēmitalentum
• talentārius

Related words

• mina
• drachma
• English talent

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson