Definitions for talent
ˈtæl ənttal·ent

Princeton's WordNet(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. endowment, gift, talent, natural endowmentnoun

   natural abilities or qualities

2. talentnoun

   a person who possesses unusual innate ability in some field or activity

Wiktionary(2.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. talentnoun

   A unit of weight and money used in ancient times in Greece, the Roman Empire, and the Middle East.

2. talentnoun

   A desire or inclination for something.

3. talentnoun

   After Matthew 25, above: A marked natural ability or skill.

   He has the talent of touching his nose with his tongue.

4. talentnoun

   People of talent, viewed collectively; a talented person.

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

5. talentnoun

   The men or (especially) women of a place or area, judged by their attractiveness.

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

6. Etymology: talente, from plural of talentum, from τάλαντον. Later senses reinforced by Old French talent.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Talentnoun

   A talent signified so much weight, or a sum of money, the value differing according to the different ages and countries.

   Etymology: talentum, Lat.

   Arbuthnot.

   Five talents in his debt,
   His means most short, his creditors most straight. William Shakespeare.

   Two tripods cast in antick mould,
   With two great talents of the finest gold. Dryden.

   2. Faculty; power; gift of nature. A metaphor borrowed from the talents mentioned in the holy writ.

   Many who knew the treasurer’s talent in removing prejudice, and reconciling himself to wavering affections, believed the loss of the duke was unseasonable. Edward Hyde.

   He is chiefly to be considered in his three different talents, as a critick, satyrist, and writer of odes. Dryden.

   ’Tis not my talent to conceal my thoughts,
   Or carry smiles and sunshine in my face,
   When discontent sits heavy at my heart. Joseph Addison, Cato.

   They are out of their element, and logick is none of their talent. Thomas Baker, Reflections on Learning.

   Persons who possess the true talent of raillery are like comets; they are seldom seen, and all at once admired and feared. Female Quixote.

   3. Quality; nature. An improper and mistaken use.

   Though the nation generally was without any ill talent to the church in doctrine or discipline, yet they were not without a jealousy that popery was not enough discountenanced. Edward Hyde.

   It is the talent of human nature to run from one extreme to another. Jonathan Swift.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Talentverb

   among the ancient Greeks, a weight and a denomination of money equal to 60 minae or 6,000 drachmae. 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.

2. Talentverb

   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.

3. Talentverb

   inclination; will; disposition; desire

4. Talentverb

   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)

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Talent

   The talent was one of several ancient units of mass, as well as corresponding units of value equivalent to these masses of a precious metal. It was approximately the mass of water required to fill an amphora. A Greek, or Attic talent, was 26 kilograms, a Roman talent was 32.3 kilograms, an Egyptian talent was 27 kilograms, and a Babylonian talent was 30.3 kilograms. Ancient Israel, and other Levantine countries, adopted the Babylonian talent, but later revised the mass. The heavy common talent, used in New Testament times, was 58.9 kilograms. The talent of gold was known to Homer, who described how Achilles gave a half-talent of gold to Antilochus as a prize. An Attic talent of silver was the value of nine man-years of skilled work. During the Peloponnesian War, an Attic talent was the amount of silver that would pay a month's wages of a trireme crew of 200 men. Hellenistic mercenaries were commonly paid one drachma per day of military service. There were 6,000 drachmae in an Attic talent. The Babylonians, Sumerians, and Hebrews divided a talent into 60 mina, each of which was subdivided into 60 shekels. The Greek also used the ratio of 60 mina to one talent. A Greek mina was approximately 434 ± 3 grams. A Roman talent was 100 libra. A libra is exactly three quarters of a Greek mina, so a Roman talent is 1.25 Greek talents. An Egyptian talent was 80 libra.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Talent

   tal′ent, n. an ancient weight or denomination of money—in the Attic system of money (N.T.), 100 drachmæ made a mnâ (pound, Luke xix. 13), and 6000 made a talent; this talent weighed 57 lb. avoirdupois, and in value may be put roughly at about £213-£235, the mnâ at about £4: faculty: any natural or special gift: special aptitude: eminent ability: abundance.—adjs. Tal′ented, possessing mental gifts; Tal′entless, without talent. [L. talentum—Gr. talanton, a weight, a talent, from a root meaning to lift, as in tlēnai, to bear; akin to L. tollĕre, Ger. dulden, Scot. thole.]

The Nuttall Encyclopedia(1.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Talent

   a weight, coin, or sum of money among the ancients, of variable value among different nations and at different periods; the Attic weight being equal to about 57 lbs. troy, and the money to £243, 15s.; among the Romans the great talent was worth £99, and the little worth £75.

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. talent

   The natural ability, quality or skill of a person.

   Their talent as a collective was amazing.

   
   

   Submitted by MaryC on March 17, 2020  

Suggested Resources(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. talent

   Song lyrics by talent -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by talent on the Lyrics.com website.

Matched Categories

1. • Expert
   • Natural Ability

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'talent' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4276

2. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'talent' in Nouns Frequency: #1397

Anagrams for talent »

1. latent

2. latten

3. nattle

4. tantle

How to pronounce talent?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say talent in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of talent in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of talent in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of talent in a Sentence

1. Michael Jordan:

   Zions incredible determination, character and play are inspiring, hes an essential part of the new talent that will help lead Jordan Brand into the future. He told us he would shock the world, and asked us to believe him. We do.

2. Terrence Howard:

   …A lot of things I got involved with [when I was younger] was the product of not knowing how to deal with frustrations, i’ve grown so much from anything that’s happened in the past… I don’t think [Fox and those involved in the show] took any of that stuff into consideration and I think they looked at the talent of the power of right now… and I am so thankful for that.

3. Cat Graham:

   Twenty years ago I never would have seen this, the job market is so hot right now — unemployment is at a record low, and the war for talent is hotter than ever. There are more jobs than there are qualified candidates.

4. Gina Cherwin:

   Many of the candidates we were talking to had multiple offers so we had to differentiate ourselves and demonstrate our employee value proposition to prospective talent.

5. Red Bull:

   He's here because we believe he's the best upcoming talent and he deserves that opportunity in the car.

Popularity rank by frequency of use