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View synonyms for

talent

[ tal-uhnt ]

noun

  1. a special natural ability or aptitude:

    a talent for drawing.

    Synonyms: , ,

  2. a capacity for achievement or success; ability:

    young men of talent.

  3. a talented person:

    The cast includes many of the theater's major talents.

  4. a group of persons with special ability:

    an exhibition of watercolors by the local talent.

  5. Movies and Television. professional actors collectively, especially star performers.
  6. a power of mind or body considered as given to a person for use and improvement: so called from the parable in Matthew 25:14–30.
  7. any of various ancient units of weight, as a unit of Palestine and Syria equal to 3000 shekels, or a unit of Greece equal to 6000 drachmas.
  8. any of various ancient Hebrew or Attic monetary units equal in value to that of a talent weight of gold, silver, or other metal.
  9. Obsolete. inclination or disposition.


talent

/ ˈ³Ùæ±ôÉ™²Ô³Ù /

noun

  1. innate ability, aptitude, or faculty, esp when unspecified; above average ability

    a talent for cooking

    a child with talent

  2. a person or persons possessing such ability
  3. any of various ancient units of weight and money
  4. informal.
    members of the opposite sex collectively, esp those living in a particular place

    the local talent

  5. an obsolete word for inclination
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged†2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˈ³Ù²¹±ô±ð²Ô³Ù±ð»å, adjective
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˜yÐÄvlog History and Origins

Origin of talent1

First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English talente, from Latin talenta, plural of talentum, from Greek ³Ùá±ô²¹²Ô³Ù´Ç²Ô “balance, weight, monetary unitâ€
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˜yÐÄvlog History and Origins

Origin of talent1

Old English talente, from Latin talenta, pl of talentum sum of money, from Greek talanton unit of money or weight; in Medieval Latin the sense was extended to ability through the influence of the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14–30)
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Synonym Study

See ability.
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

But the trio’s talents don’t excuse the fact that Scharfman gives his characters almost nothing to work with.

From

His star power led to several reality shows on MTV and VH1 where he searched for the next big musical talent.

From

What, will the president next crack down on foreign athletes in the name of fostering American talent?

From

Salon reached out to Halili and Reitsma, both individually and through the talent agency that represents them, with questions regarding the issues raised by this reporting.

From

Hurley’s talents were manifold — he designed and illustrated most of his charming hand-drawn album art, and learned a diversity of instruments including banjo and fiddle.

From

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More About Talent

What doesÌýtalent mean?

Talent is an exceptional natural ability, especially in a particular activity, such as music.

Talent is often thought of as the kind of ability that comes without training—something that you’re born with. It is often contrasted with skill, which is an ability acquired and developed through practice. It can also be used to refer to people who are talented (which is the adjective form of talent).

Example: She was a prodigy whose musical talent was obvious from a young age—she started playing the piano at the age of 2.

Where doesÌýtalent come from?

Talent goes back to at least the 900s. It derives from the Greek ³Ùá±ô²¹²Ô³Ù´Ç²Ô, which referred to a unit of money or weight. At some point in its history, the meaning of talent evolved from “money†to “ability.†This change is thought to have been strongly influenced by a passage from the New Testament of the Bible often called the “Parable of the Talents.†In this story from the Gospel of Matthew, a rich guy entrusts his servants with his talents (money) while he’s away. Two of the servants invest the money and make him a profit, but a third servant just buries it and returns it when the boss gets back. The talents in the story are widely interpreted as representing natural abilities, with the moral being that you should use your abilities for good instead of hiding them.

Relatedly, talent is often described as God-given, which is another way of saying that talent is something that someone’s born with. A lot of people see this as being different from skill, which you have to work for. For example, a person might be said to have musical talent because they find it easy to learn the skill of playing an instrument. However, the two words are often used in much the same way, especially since any talent can be improved through practice.

Talent is often used in phrases that specify the type of talent, as in athletic talent, musical talent, and a talent for cooking. Talent can be used with an article (a, an, or the), as in a talent for fixing things, or without one, as in You’ve got talent.

Talent is also used to refer to a talented person, as in He’s a major talent in the field, or to refer to a group of talented people collectively, as in This event features international talent. More specifically, it can refer to actors or the people who appear on screen in some kind of production, as in We can’t start filming until the talent arrives.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to talent?

What are some synonyms for talent?

What are some words that share a root or word element with talent?Ìý

What are some words that often get used in discussing talent?

How isÌýtalent used in real life?

Talent is often used in discussion of abilities that people consider to occur naturally in a person. For this reason, talent is often contrasted with skill.

Ìý

Ìý

Try usingÌýtalent!

True or false?Ìý

Talent and skill are opposites and they are never used in the same way.

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