# talent
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English talent, from Old English talente, borrowed from the plural of Latin talentum (“a Grecian weight; a talent of money”), from Ancient Greek τάλαντον (tálanton, “balance, a particular weight, especially of gold, sum of money, a talent”). Compare Old High German talenta (“talent”). Later figurative senses are from Old French talent (“talent, will, inclination, desire”), derived from the biblical Parable of the Talents.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈtælənt/
* (UK, also) IPA: /ˈtalənt/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -ælənt
* Hyphenation: tal‧ent

### Noun

talent (plural talents)
* A marked natural ability or skill. [from 15th c.]
** 1936 Feb. 15, Ernest Hemingway, letter to Maxwell Perkins:
    Feel awfully about Scott... I always knew he couldn't think—he never could—but he had a marvelous talent and the thing is to use it—not whine in public.
    He has a real talent for drawing.
* (historical) A unit of weight and money used in ancient times in Greece, the Roman Empire, and the Middle East, equal to about 30 to 60 kg in various times and places. [from 9th c.]
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew XXV:14-15:For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
* (obsolete) A desire or inclination for something. [14th–16th c.]
** 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter XX, in Le Morte Darthur, book X:But my hede said sir Palomydes I wille not ryde these thre dayes / […] / Truly said sir Lamorak / and I wille abyde here with you / And whan ye ryde / thenne wille I ryde / […] / therfor I pray you syr Dynadan abyde and ryde with vs / Feythfully said Dynadan I wylle not abyde for I haue suche a talent to see sir Tristram that I may not abyde longe from hym(please add an English translation of this quotation)
* (business, media, sports) People of talent, viewed collectively; a talented person. [from 19th c.]
    The director searched their talent pool to fill the new opening.
* (slang) The men or (especially) women of a place or area, judged by their attractiveness. [from 20th c.]
    Not much talent in this bar tonight—let's hit the clubs.
** 2011, Nic Venter, Wow! What a Life!, page 179:I went down to the beach front, of course, for that was the first thing that all Vaalies did: to look at the sea and to check the talent on the beach.

#### Synonyms

* See also Thesaurus:skill

#### Derived terms

* talent community
* talent contest
* talent management
* talent scout
* talent show
* talent-spotter
* talent-spotting
* talent stack
* voice talent

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### Further reading

* “talent”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “talent”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

### Anagrams

* antlet, latent, latten

## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin talentum, from Ancient Greek τάλαντον (tálanton).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [təˈlen]
* IPA: (Balearic) [təˈlent]
* IPA: (Valencia) [taˈlent]

### Noun

talent m (plural talents)
* talent (Greek money)
* talent (skill)

#### Derived terms

* atalentat
* talentós

### Noun

talent f (plural talents)
* appetite, hunger
    Synonym: gana

### Further reading

* “talent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

## Czech
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin talentum.

### Noun

talent m inan
* talent (unit of weight)
* talent (actual or potential ability)
    Synonym: nadání n

#### Related terms

* talentovaný

### Further reading

* “talent”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
* “talent”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
* “talent”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

## Danish
### Etymology 1

Borrowed from German Talent (“talent”), from Latin talentum, from Ancient Greek τάλαντον (tálanton, “balance, a particular weight, especially of gold, sum of money, a talent”).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /talɛnt/, [taˈlɛnˀd̥]

#### Noun

talent n (singular definite talentet, plural indefinite talenter)
* talent (potential or factual ability to perform a skill better than most people)

##### See also

* talent on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia $^{da}$

### Etymology 2

From Latin talentum, from Ancient Greek τάλαντον (tálanton, “balance, a particular weight, especially of gold, sum of money, a talent”).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /talɛnt/, [taˈlɛnˀd̥]

#### Noun

talent c (singular definite talenten, plural indefinite talenter)
* talent (unit of weight and money)

##### Inflection
## Dutch
### Etymology

From Middle Dutch talent, from Old French talent, from Latin talentum, from Ancient Greek τάλαντον (tálanton, “a particular weight, balance”), from Proto-Indo-European *tl̥h₂ent-, from *telh₂-.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /taːˈlɛnt/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: ta‧lent
* Rhymes: -ɛnt

### Noun

talent n (plural talenten, diminutive talentje n)
* talent (gift, quality, capability)
* (historical) talent (ancient weight, value of money or coin)

#### Derived terms

* met zijn talenten woekeren
* natuurtalent
* talentenjacht
* talentvol

#### Descendants

* Afrikaans: talent

### Anagrams

* latten

## French
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin talentum (“a Grecian weight; a talent of money”), itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek τάλαντον (tálanton, “balance; a particular weight, especially of gold; sum of money; a talent”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ta.lɑ̃/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

talent m (plural talents)
* (historical, Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece) a talent (an obsolete unit of weight or money)
* a talent, a gift, a knack

#### Derived terms

* talentueux

### Further reading

* “talent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

### Anagrams

* latent

## Middle English
### Alternative forms

* taland, talande, talant, talente (all rare)

### Etymology

From Old French talent and Old English talente, both from Latin talentum, from Ancient Greek τάλαντον (tálanton).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /taˈlɛnt/, /ˈtalɛnt/

### Noun

talent (plural talentes or talens)
* A talent (ancient unit of money or weight)
* Will, inclination, or desire.
* A base inclination or urge (especially lustful or for food)
* An emotion or feeling (especially positive or affectionate)
* A purpose; a plan or idea serving one.
* (rare) Capacity, character, or nature.
* (rare) A talent (ability, skill).

#### Related terms

* maltalent

#### Descendants

* English: talent
* Scots: talent

#### References

* “talent, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin talentum.

### Noun

talent n (definite singular talentet, indefinite plural talent or talenter, definite plural talenta or talentene)
* (a) talent

#### Derived terms

* talentfull

### References

* “talent” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Etymology

From Medieval Latin talentum.

### Noun

talent n (definite singular talentet, indefinite plural talent, definite plural talenta)
* (a) talent

#### Derived terms

* talentfull

### References

* “talent” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

## Old French
### Alternative forms

* talant

### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin talentum (“a Grecian weight; a talent of money”), from Ancient Greek τάλαντον (tálanton, “balance; a particular weight, especially of gold; sum of money; a talent”).

### Noun

talent oblique singular, m (oblique plural talenz or talentz, nominative singular talenz or talentz, nominative plural talent)
* desire; wish (to do something)

#### Descendants

* Middle English: talent, taland, talande, talant, talente (in part)
** English: talent
** Scots: talent

## Polish
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin talentum, from Ancient Greek τάλαντον (tálanton), from Proto-Indo-European *tl̥h₂ent-, from *telh₂-

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈta.lɛnt/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -alɛnt
* Syllabification: ta‧lent

### Noun

talent m inan (diminutive talencik)
* talent, gift
    Antonym: antytalent

#### Declension
### Noun

talent m animal
* (historical) talent (ancient unit of weight and money)

#### Declension
### Noun

talent m pers (diminutive talencik)
* (metonymically) talented person
    Antonym: antytalent

#### Derived terms

* utalentowany
* antytalent
* beztalencie

### Further reading

* talent in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
* talent in Polish dictionaries at PWN

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French talent.

### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Noun

talent n (plural talente)
* talent

#### Declension
## Serbo-Croatian
### Alternative forms

* tàlenat (Bosnia, Serbia)

### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin talentum.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /tǎlent/
* Hyphenation: ta‧lent

### Noun

tàlent m (Cyrillic spelling та̀лент)
* (Croatia) talent

#### Declension
## Welsh
### Alternative forms

* talen (colloquial)

### Pronunciation

* (North Wales) IPA: /ˈtalɛnt/
* (South Wales) IPA: /ˈtaːlɛnt/, /ˈtalɛnt/
* Rhymes: -alɛnt

### Etymology 1

talu +‎ -ent

#### Verb

talent
* (literary) third-person plural imperfect/conditional of talu

### Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin talentum.

#### Noun

talent m or f (plural talentau or talenti or talennau or talents)
* ability, aptitude
* talent (“coin”)

##### Derived terms

* talentog (“talented”)

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

### Further reading

* R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “talent”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies