Etymologically
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talentum

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [taˈɫɛn.tũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [taˈlɛn.tum][1]

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

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