talent

[ tal-uhnt ]

noun

1. a special natural ability or aptitude:

   a talent for drawing.

   Synonyms: genius, gift, capability

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

/ ˈtælənt /

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. See inclination
   an obsolete word for inclination

Derived Forms

• ˈtalented, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of talent¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English talente, from Latin talenta, plural of talentum, from Greek tálanton “balance, weight, monetary unit”

Word 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)

Synonym Study

See ability.

Example Sentences

Still, even with the backend issues that come up, agency HR execs say that they have to change their thinking on remote employees in different states unless they want to lose out on talent.

From Digiday

“It takes the entire agency to do this, not just one person,” said Barb Rozman, chief talent officer at Campbell Ewald.

From Digiday

For high-touch custom content, we’ve brought in new talent and honed the focus of the content we offer.

From Digiday

Those worries have since subsided somewhat, Price Harrell said, and in the past few weeks some talent have gotten more comfortable with the idea of shooting in person, provided social distancing guidelines are followed.

From Digiday

If you ask agency talent about the job search you’ll hear them bemoan alleged fake job postings as a scourge of the industry.

From Digiday

There was so much beauty, talent, potential, and most importantly, honesty in your work.

From The Daily Beast

That meant the talent that DJ Brinsely hired that night performed for a skeleton audience.

From The Daily Beast

Baseball has long been the most popular sport in Cuba and the island has long been a hotbed of baseball talent.

From The Daily Beast

There may be no entrapped pool of human talent left on earth with the dollar value of Cuban athletes.

From The Daily Beast

The influx of talent behind the tables and in the showrooms was undeniable.

From The Daily Beast

A great-granddaughter of Fragonard, she seems to have inherited his talent; Corot and Renoir forcibly appealed to her.

From Project Gutenberg

Baroness Schopenhauer died at Jena; a woman of talent and celebrity, and author of various works, which were collected in 24 vols.

From Project Gutenberg

After the first exhibition of her pictures in Berlin, her "God-given talent" was several times mentioned by the art critics.

From Project Gutenberg

I suppose he thought he would live again in him, for he always says, "Never did such talent come under my hands."

From Project Gutenberg

His pupils paid each a talent a year for instruction; and Melanthius, and even Apelles himself, for a time, were among the number.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• art
• capability
• capacity
• expertise
• flair
• genius
• gift
• knack
• know-how
• power
• savvy
• skill
• thing

More About Talent

What does talent 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 does talent come from?

Talent goes back to at least the 900s. It derives from the Greek tálanton, 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?

• talented (adjective)

What are some synonyms for talent?

• ability
• knack
• flair
• capability
• aptitude

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

• talent show
• talent scout

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

• skill
• natural
• proficiency
• potential
• aptitude

How is talent 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.

Watching the National Youth Orchestra of the USA on BBC proms. Amazing musical talent at such a young age. Inspiring!

— Tom Read (@tom_read) July 26, 2013

hey artists: use your talent for good. draw stuff for yourself. appreciate this gift you have and don't stop doing what you do

— ✨ vintage ✨ (@vintagecoyote) May 18, 2017

Kenny Atkinson was an absolute delight for us to deal with. Always kind and engaging. Such an easy guy to root for. What he did to help transform the culture in Brooklyn & develop young talent will benefit the organization for a very very long time.

— Ryan Ruocco (@RyanRuocco) March 7, 2020

 

 

Try using talent!

True or false? 

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