talent - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (2024)

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:

talent

Wikipedia

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English talent, from Old English talente, borrowed from the plural of Latin talentum (“a Grecian weight; a talent of money”), from Ancient Greek τάλαντον (tálanton, “balance, a particular weight, especially of gold, sum of money, a talent”). Compare Old High German talenta (“talent”). Later figurative senses are from Old French talent (“talent, will, inclination, desire”), derived from the biblical Parable of the Talents.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ˈtælənt/
• (UK, also) IPA^(key): /ˈtalənt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ælənt
• Hyphenation: tal‧ent

Noun[edit]

talent (plural talents)

1. A marked natural ability or skill. [from 15th c.]
   • 1936 Feb. 15, Ernest Hemingway, letter to Maxwell Perkins:

     Feel awfully about Scott... I always knew he couldn't think—he never could—but he had a marvelous talent and the thing is to use it—not whine in public.

   He has a real talent for drawing.

2. (historical) A unit of weight and money used in ancient times in Greece, the Roman Empire, and the Middle East, equal to about 30 to 60 kg in various times and places. [from 9th c.]

   • 1611, The Holy Bible,[…] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker,[…], →OCLC, Matthew XXV:14-15:

     For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

3. (obsolete) A desire or inclination for something. [14th–16th c.]

   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter XX, in Le Morte Darthur, book X:

     But my hede said sir Palomydes I wille not ryde these thre dayes / […] / Truly said sir Lamorak / and I wille abyde here with you / And whan ye ryde / thenne wille I ryde / […] / therfor I pray you syr Dynadan abyde and ryde with vs / Feythfully said Dynadan I wylle not abyde for I haue suche a talent to see sir Tristram that I may not abyde longe from hym

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

4. (business, media, sports) People of talent, viewed collectively; a talented person. [from 19th c.]

   The director searched their talent pool to fill the new opening.

5. (slang) The men or (especially) women of a place or area, judged by their attractiveness. [from 20th c.]

   Not much talent in this bar tonight—let's hit the clubs.

   • 2011, Nic Venter, Wow! What a Life!, page 179:

     I went down to the beach front, of course, for that was the first thing that all Vaalies did: to look at the sea and to check the talent on the beach.

Synonyms[edit]

• See also Thesaurus:skill

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• “talent”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “talent”, in The Century Dictionary[…], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams[edit]

• antlet, latent, latten

Catalan[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Latin talentum, from Ancient Greek τάλαντον (tálanton).

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): (Central) [təˈlen]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [təˈlent]
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) [taˈlent]

Noun[edit]

talentm (plural talents)

1. talent (Greek money)
2. talent (skill)
3. hunger

   Synonym: gana

Derived terms[edit]

• atalentat
• talentós

Further reading[edit]

• “talent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Czech[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Latin talentum.

Noun[edit]

talentminan

1. talent (unit of weight)
2. talent (actual or potential ability)

   Synonym: nadánín

Declension[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• talent in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• talent in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
• talent in Internetová jazyková příručka

Danish[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Borrowed from German Talent (“talent”), from Latin talentum, from Ancient Greek τάλαντον (tálanton, “balance, a particular weight, especially of gold, sum of money, a talent”).

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /talɛnt/, [taˈlɛnˀd̥]

Noun[edit]

talentn (singular definite talentet, plural indefinite talenter)

1. talent (potential or factual ability to perform a skill better than most people)

Inflection[edit]

See also[edit]

• talent on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^da

Etymology 2[edit]

From Latin talentum, from Ancient Greek τάλαντον (tálanton, “balance, a particular weight, especially of gold, sum of money, a talent”).

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /talɛnt/, [taˈlɛnˀd̥]

Noun[edit]

talentc (singular definite talenten, plural indefinite talenter)

1. talent (unit of weight and money)

Inflection[edit]

Dutch[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle Dutch talent, from Old French talent, from Latin talentum, from Ancient Greek τάλαντον (tálanton, “a particular weight, balance”), from Proto-Indo-European *tl̥h₂ent-, from *telh₂-.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /taːˈlɛnt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ta‧lent
• Rhymes: -ɛnt

Noun[edit]

talentn (plural talenten, diminutive talentjen)

1. talent (gift, quality, capability)
2. (historical) talent (ancient weight, value of money or coin)

Derived terms[edit]

• met zijn talenten woekeren
• natuurtalent
• talentenjacht
• talentvol

Descendants[edit]

• Afrikaans: talent

Anagrams[edit]

• latten

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Latin talentum (“a Grecian weight; a talent of money”), itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek τάλαντον (tálanton, “balance; a particular weight, especially of gold; sum of money; a talent”).

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ta.lɑ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun[edit]

talentm (plural talents)

1. (historical, Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece) a talent (an obsolete unit of weight or money)
2. a talent, a gift, a knack

Derived terms[edit]

• talentueux

Further reading[edit]

• “talent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams[edit]

• latent

Middle English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

• taland, talande, talant, talente (all rare)

Etymology[edit]

From Old French talent and Old English talente, both from Latin talentum, from Ancient Greek τάλαντον (tálanton).

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /taˈlɛnt/, /ˈtalɛnt/

Noun[edit]

talent (plural talentes or talens)

1. A talent (ancient unit of money or weight)
2. Will, inclination, or desire.
3. A base inclination or urge (especially lustful or for food)
4. An emotion or feeling (especially positive or affectionate)
5. A purpose; a plan or idea serving one.
6. (rare) Capacity, character, or nature.
7. (rare) A talent (ability, skill).

Related terms[edit]

• maltalent

Descendants[edit]

• English: talent
• Scots: talent

References[edit]

• “talent, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Medieval Latin talentum.

Noun[edit]

talentn (definite singular talentet, indefinite plural talent or talenter, definite plural talenta or talentene)

1. (a) talent

Derived terms[edit]

• talentfull

References[edit]

• “talent” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Medieval Latin talentum.

Noun[edit]

talentn (definite singular talentet, indefinite plural talent, definite plural talenta)

1. (a) talent

Derived terms[edit]

• talentfull

References[edit]

• “talent” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old French[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

• talant

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Latin talentum (“a Grecian weight; a talent of money”), from Ancient Greek τάλαντον (tálanton, “balance; a particular weight, especially of gold; sum of money; a talent”).

Noun[edit]

talent oblique singular,m (oblique plural talenz or talentz, nominative singular talenz or talentz, nominative plural talent)

1. desire; wish (to do something)

Descendants[edit]

• Middle English: talent, taland, talande, talant, talente (in part)
  • English: talent
  • Scots: talent

Polish[edit]

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:

talent

Wikipedia ^pl

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Latin talentum, from Ancient Greek τάλαντον (tálanton), from Proto-Indo-European *tl̥h₂ent-, from *telh₂-

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ˈta.lɛnt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -alɛnt
• Syllabification: ta‧lent

Noun[edit]

talentminan (diminutive talencik)

1. talent, gift

   Antonym: antytalent

Declension[edit]

Noun[edit]

talentmanimal

1. (historical) talent (ancient unit of weight and money)

Declension[edit]

Noun[edit]

talentmpers (diminutive talencik)

1. (metonymically) talented person

   Antonym: antytalent

Declension[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

adjective

noun

Further reading[edit]

• talent in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• talent in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from French talent.

Pronunciation[edit]

• Audio

  (file)

Noun[edit]

talentn (plural talente)

1. talent

Declension[edit]

Serbo-Croatian[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

• tàlenat (Bosnia)

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Latin talentum.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /tǎlent/
• Hyphenation: ta‧lent

Noun[edit]

tàlentm (Cyrillic spelling та̀лент)

1. (Croatia) talent

Declension[edit]

Welsh[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

• talen (colloquial)

Pronunciation[edit]

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈtalɛnt/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈtaːlɛnt/, /ˈtalɛnt/
• Rhymes: -alɛnt

Etymology 1[edit]

talu +‎ -ent

Verb[edit]

talent

1. (literary) third-person plural imperfect/conditional of talu

Etymology 2[edit]

Borrowed from Latin talentum.

Noun[edit]

talentm or f (plural talentau or talenti or talennau or talents)

1. ability, aptitude
2. talent (“coin”)

Derived terms[edit]

• talentog (“talented”)

Mutation[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “talent”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies