talent English · revision 4083

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 893|origins=grc τάλαντον}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈtæl.ənt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|talent]], talente,^(MWU 2024) which in the sense of a weight or sum of money is [[inh|ang|talente]],^(COED 2004)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|la|talenta]], the plural of talentum “unit of weight or money”,^(MWU 2024)^(AHD 2000)^(COED 2004) and in the sense “inclination, desire” is from Old French talent, from Medieval Latin talentum “inclination, will, desire”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Both are from [[grc|τάλαντον|tr=tálanton|t=a balance, pair of scales; a weight; a sum of money]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) related to tlênai “to bear, suffer”,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate) from [[ine-pro|*telh₂-|alt=*tele-|t=to lift, support, weigh]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) The Romance sense “will, inclination” grew from a figurative use of “money, wealth”,^(Etymonline) or from the inclination of a balance.^(Trench 1859) It is related to [[tolerate]] and [[extol]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ancient unit of weight and of money: Old English, about 893.^(OED 1989)^(COED 2004) An inclination, disposition, will, desire: probably before 1300,^(Barnhart 1988) 1292 in the OED^(OED 1989) and the late 13th century in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) senses now obsolete.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The weight was originally Babylonian, though the name is Greek, and varied widely in value;^(Etymonline) as a sum of money it was reckoned at 6,000 drachmae.^(Etymonline) In the sense “feeling, passion”, especially anger, it is from about 1300 to 1320,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and Spenser's ''maltalent'' meant ill will.^(Trench 1859) “Mental endowment, natural ability” comes from the parable of the talents in Matthew 25,^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000)^(Cresswell 2021) in which a master gives his servants talents of silver and two of them use theirs well:^(Cresswell 2021) the notion is of a gift from God for which one will give an account at the Last Judgement.^(Etymonline) It developed by the mid-15th century,^(Etymonline) first in Lydgate about 1430.^(Barnhart 1988) ''Talented'' is from before 1633.^(OED 1989) People with ability, collectively, gave the ''talent scout'' and the ''talent show'' from the 1930s,^(Cresswell 2021) and ''the local talent'', good-looking people of a place, from the 1940s, probably among British servicemen.^(Cresswell 2021) In West Yorkshire, a talent was a conceited person.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 893 – a weight; a sum of money.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1292 – inclination, desire.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1430 – natural ability.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * a. 1633 – ''talented''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1930s – ''talent scout''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1940s – ''local talent''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A marked natural [[ability]], as for art or music.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Natural ability of a high order.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A person or people with such ability: ''new talent''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(informal)'' Sexually attractive people as a group.^(MW Collegiate)^(SOED 2002)

+ # An ancient unit of weight and money in Greece, Rome and the Middle East.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[talented]]

+ * [[talentless]]

+ * [[talentlessness]]

+ * [[talent scout]]

+ * [[talent show]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tolerate]]

+ * [[extol]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}