talento

Forms

talento m (plural talentos)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin talentum (“a weight; a sum of money”), which is from Ancient Greek τάλαντον (tálanton, “balance; a weight; a talent”).^[2][1][3] The Greek word is from Proto-Indo-European *tl̥h₂ent-, from Proto-Indo-European *telh₂- (“to bear, endure”).^[1]

The sense “natural gift” comes from the parable in the Gospel of Matthew in which three servants are given talents by their master and are expected to make them yield.^[2][3] In post-classical Latin the word was used for a gift from God in general, and Medieval Latin had the senses “aptitude” and “inclination, desire”.^[4][5] Nascentes cites Gonçalves Viana for a development from “weight, value” to “will” and then to “personal merit”.^[6]

The same Latin word gave the popular talante “will, desire”, which Cunha derives from it with the influence of Old Occitan talant, and tento “counter used for scoring in games”.^[7][8][2] Spanish talento, French talent, Italian talento, Catalan talent and Romanian talent are of the same origin.^[1][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record is from the 14th century, in the plural, for the ancient coins.^[2] In the same century talent also stood for talante “will”.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Vieira notes that charters of Spain and Portugal down to the end of the 12th century often name a talento d'ouro as the fine that whoever broke the deed had to pay.^[10] The DLP records a Portuguese weight of gold worth sixty maravedis.^[11] Houaiss dates the sense “remarkable intellect” to the 16th century and “aptitude, natural or acquired” to the 17th.^[2] Bluteau (1712–1728) still explains the word as a weight and sum of money, from the Greek word for “balance”.^[12] Folqman (1755) glosses it as natural ability.^[13] Morais (1789) gives both the weight of gold or silver and the aptitude for sciences and arts, with enterrar os talentos “to bury one's talents”, that is, not to cultivate them, and um grande talento for a person of great ability.^[14]

In popular speech in Portugal and Brazil the word also means physical strength or vigour.^[2][15] In north-eastern Brazil it is strength and fitness for work, and a horse can be said to have it.^[16][17]

Timeline

• 14th century – first record, talentos of coins, and talent in the sense of talante.^[2]
• 16th century – first record of the sense “remarkable intellect”.^[2]
• 17th century – first record of the sense “aptitude”.^[2]
• 1629 – talento in a private letter.^[18]
• 1692 – the Vida e Milagres de Santa Senhorinha de Basto uses the word.^[19]
• 1697 – Pereira lists talento as a coin.^[20]
• 1755 – Folqman glosses it as natural ability.^[13]
• 1789 – Morais records enterrar os talentos.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. talent, a natural or acquired aptitude: Ela tem talento para a música.^[2][21][1]
2. Outstanding intelligence; wit (engenho).^[2][22]
3. A talented person: um dos grandes talentos do cinema.^[2][21]
4. (historical) A coin and money of account of ancient Greece and Rome.^[2][11][1]
5. (historical) A Greek and Roman unit of weight.^[2][11]
6. (obsolete) Will, desire; the same as talante.^[2][23]
7. (regional, informal) Physical strength, vigour.^[2][15][16]

Word family

• talentoso

Related words

• talentário
• talante
• tento
• Latin talentum
• Spanish talento

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. talento
3. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. talento
4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. talentum
5. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 483
7. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. talante
8. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. tento
9. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. talento
10. ^ Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 5, 665
11. ^ a b c Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt
12. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro)
13. ^ a b Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro)
14. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 441
15. ^ a b Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. talento
16. ^ a b Navarro, Fred (2004), Dicionário do Nordeste, São Paulo: Estação Liberdade, p. s.v. talento
17. ^ Instituto da Lingua Galega, Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (TLPGP), Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/tesouro
18. ^ CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. talento
19. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta
20. ^ Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro)
21. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition
22. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 8792
23. ^ Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br)