talent French · revision 17679

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=end of the 10th century, Passion de Clermont|origins=grc τάλαντον}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ta.lɑ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''talent''' ''m'' (plural talents)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|talant]] (about 980), ''talent'' from about 1050.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|talentum|t=a Greek weight; a sum of money]], from [[grc|τάλαντον|tr=tálanton|t=pan of a scale; weight; sum of money]].^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|13/1, 36b) The Greek word belongs to an Indo-European root meaning “to bear, carry”, also found in Latin [[m|la|tollō|t=to lift]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ The medieval sense “desire, will” has been explained as a metaphor from the weight that tips the balance, or by a direct borrowing of the Greek word in the sense “inclination”.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Littré 1873) The modern sense “gift, aptitude” comes from the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14), in which two servants make their master's talents bear fruit while the third buries his; scholastic Latin already used the word for a natural gift, as in Abelard.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) Cognate with [[it|talento]], [[ca|talent]] and [[es|talento]].^(REW 1935)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Passion de Clermont'' (end of the 10th century) ''talant'' means a state of mind, a disposition or anger, and also desire or will: ''Vostres talenz ademplirai'', “I will fulfil your wishes”.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old French ''talent'' meant desire, wish or will, as in the ''Chanson de Roland'' (''n'unt talent qu'il li faillent''), and also mood or temper.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)^(AND) As a term of antiquity it named the Greek weight and sum of money from about 1170 (''Livre des Rois''); the sense “coin” is found in the 16th century.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ From the 14th century it was used for a faculty or aptitude, and in the mid-16th century for the gifts of the Holy Spirit;^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Bloch and Wartburg note that the sense spread only after the Reformation.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) In the 17th century ''talent'' lost the sense “desire” and took that of a natural gift, and, from 1624 a particular aptitude in an activity, especially an artistic one.^(Littré 1873)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The adjective [[talentueux]] dates from 1881.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * End of the 10th century – ''Talant'' “disposition; desire” in the ''Passion de Clermont''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1050 – ''Talent'' in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1170 – The Greek weight, in the ''Livre des Rois''.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 14th century – A faculty or aptitude.^(TLFi)

+ * 1624 – “Aptitude in an activity”.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1762 – The Académie records ''enfouir son talent''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1881 – ''Talentueux''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(antiquity)'' A [[m|en|talent]], a Greek unit of weight of 20 to 27 kilograms; a money of account of that weight in gold or silver.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # A natural gift, an [[m|en|aptitude]] or [[m|en|knack]]: ''il a le talent de…''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Marked ability in an activity, especially an art: ''un écrivain de talent''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A talented person.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''Enfouir son talent'': not to make use of one's gifts.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[talentueux]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|talentum]]

+ * [[en|talent]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}