tal|ent

tal|ent «TAL uhnt», noun.

1. a special natural ability; aptitude: »

She has a talent for music. Genius does what it must, and Talent does what it can (Owen Meredith). If a man has a talent and cannot use it, he has failed (Thomas Wolfe). Women with the talent for raising the tantrum to an art form and the conniption fit to a way of life (Time).

SYNONYM(S): faculty, capacity, gift. See syn. under ability. (Cf. ↑ability)

2. a person or persons with talent: »

to introduce new talent on stage. That young singer is a real talent.

3. a) an ancient unit of weight or money, varying with time and place. b) the value of a talent weight as a money of account.

4. Slang. bookmakers' customers collectively; gamblers.

5. Obsolete. what one prefers; one's liking.

╂[(def. 3) Old English talente unit of weight, money < Latin talentum < Greek tálanton; (def. 5) < Medieval Latin talentum inclination, desire; the other meanings < a figurative sense of money or value. See Matthew 25:14-30.]

–tal´ent|less, adjective.