talent Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun natural abilities or qualities
    endowment; natural endowment; gift.
  2. noun a person who possesses unusual innate ability in some field or activity

WordNet

Tal"ent noun
Etymology
F., fr. L. talentum a talent (in sense 1), Gr. a balance, anything weighed, a definite weight, a talent; akin to to bear, endure, , L. tolerare, tollere, to lift up, sustain, endure. See Thole, v. t., Tolerate.
Definitions
  1. Among the ancient Greeks, a weight and a denomination of money equal to 60 minæ or 6,000 drachmæ. 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.
    Rowing vessel whose burden does not exceed five hundred talents. Jowett (Thucid.).
  2. 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. Inclination; will; disposition; desire. Obs.
    They rather counseled you to your talent than to your profit. Chaucer.
  4. 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).
    He is chiefly to be considered in his three different talents, as a critic, a satirist, and a writer of odes. Dryden.
    His talents, his accomplishments, his graceful manners, made him generally popular. Macaulay.
    Syn. -- Ability; faculty; gift; endowment. See Genius.

Webster 1913