WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Tal"ent
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [F., fr. L. talentum a talent (in sense 1), Gr. tolerare, tollere, to lift up, sustain, endure. See Thole, v. t., Tolerate.]
Definition : 1. Among the ancient Greeks, a weight and a denomination of money equal to 60 min? or 6,000 drachm?. 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

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.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913