Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A marked innate ability, as for artistic accomplishment.
- noun Natural endowment or ability of a superior quality.
- noun A person or group of people having such ability.
- noun A variable unit of weight and money used in ancient Greece, Rome, and the Middle East.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun An ancient denomination of weight, originally Babylonian (though the name is Greek), and varying widely in value among different peoples and at different times.
- noun Money; wealth; property in general.
- noun Hence, a wealth; an abundance (as in the phrase ‘a wealth of golden hair’); or, perhaps, gold (i. e. ‘golden tresses’).
- noun A gift committed to one for use and improvement: so called in allusion to the parable of the talents (Mat. xxv.); hence, a peculiar faculty, endowment, or aptitude; a capacity for achievement or success.
- noun Mental power of a superior order; superior intelligence; special aptitude; abilities; parts: often noting power or skill acquired by cultivation, and thus contrasted with genius. See
genius , 5. - noun Hence, persons of ability collectively: as, all the talent of the country is enlisted in the cause.
- noun A distinctive feature, quality, habit, or the like; a characteristic.
- noun Disposition; inclination; will; desire.
- noun Synonyms Abilities, Gifts, Parts, etc. See
genius . - noun An obsolete or dialectal variant of
talon . - To ondow with talents.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Among the ancient Greeks, a weight and a denomination of money equal to 60 minæ or 6,000 drachmæ. The Attic talent, as a weight, was about 57 lbs. avoirdupois; as a denomination of silver money, its value was £243 15s. sterling, or about $1,180.
- noun Among the Hebrews, a weight and denomination of money. For silver it was equivalent to 3,000 shekels, and in weight was equal to about 93� lbs. avoirdupois; as a denomination of silver, it has been variously estimated at from £340 to £396 sterling, or about $1,645 to $1,916. For gold it was equal to 10,000 gold shekels.
- noun obsolete Inclination; will; disposition; desire.
- noun Intellectual ability, natural or acquired; mental endowment or capacity; skill in accomplishing; a special gift, particularly in business, art, or the like; faculty; a use of the word probably originating in the Scripture parable of the talents (Matt. xxv. 14-30).
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a person who possesses unusual innate ability in some field or activity
- noun natural abilities or qualities
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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If he has talent he will see with the eyes of _talent_ -- that wonderful force which penetrates all artistic mysteries and reveals the truths as nothing else possibly can.
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His main talent is campaigning and he started that years before any other candidate in history and is STILL running around the country campaigning.
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And unintentionally, but I've often said my main talent is getting the wrong end of the stick in interesting ways.
Barnstorming on an Invisible Segway markgritter 2009
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The United States still holds the edge in talent from the top to bottom of its roster, but many of the competitors have an edge in familiarity by having played together for several years.
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I shall use the term talent so as to include genius.
Popular Science Monthly Oct, Nov, Dec, 1915 — Volume 86 Anonymous
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I shall use the term talent so as to include genius.
The Scientific Monthly, October-December 1915 Scientific Monthly 1915
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For Detroit - the city that gave the label talent, a work ethic and its very name - the good vibes come at a good time.
Expecting Rain 2009
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The art ... the talent is all that matters to us, the public until our puffing up of said star's balloon bursts all loudly and messily when it touches the needle of human frailty.
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The art ... the talent is all that matters to us, the public until our puffing up of said star's balloon bursts all loudly and messily when it touches the needle of human frailty.
Archive 2009-08-01 2009
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Whether doing her full-scale show at Joe's Pub, or just singing with a club-date style band at the Darby on West 14th St, Lady Rizo practically has the word "talent" tattooed on her forehead.
The City's Best Jazz Moments of 2011 Will Friedwald 2011
gangerh commented on the word talent
Ta, fbharjo.
June 17, 2008
bilby commented on the word talent
None of the definitions list the 'showbiz' meaning, i.e. the person or persons upon whom the show is primarily dependant; the key performer.
April 7, 2011