1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Talent

TALENT (Lat. talentum, adaptation of Gr. τάλαντον, balance, weight, from root ταλ-, to lift, as τλῆναι, to bear, τάλας, enduring, cf. Lat. tollere, to lift, Skt. tulā, balance), the name of an ancient Greek unit of weight, the heaviest in use both for monetary purposes and for commodities (see Weights and Measures). The weight itself was originally Babylonian, and derivatives were in use in Palestine, Syria and Egypt. In medieval Latin and also in many Romanic languages the word was used figuratively, of will, inclination or desire, derived from the sense of balance, but the general figurative use for natural endowments or gifts, faculty, capacity or ability, is due to the parable of the talents in Matt. xxv.