genius

See also génius, and Genius

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Latin genius (“the guardian spirit of a person, spirit, inclination, wit, genius, literally 'inborn nature'”), from gignere (“to beget, produce”), Old Latin genere, the root gen; see genus.

Pronunciation

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  Rhymes: -iːniəs

Noun

genius (plural: genii (formal, classical Roman mythology) or geniuses (colloquial))

1. Someone possessing extraordinary intelligence or skill; especially somebody who has demonstrated this by a creative or original work in science, music, art etc.
2. Extraordinary mental capacity.
3. inspiration, a mental leap, an extraordinary creative process.

   A work of genius

4. (Roman mythology) The guardian spirit of a place or person.
5. A way of thinking, optimizing one's capacity for learning and understanding.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:genius

Antonyms

• idiot

Related terms

• engine
• engineer
• genie
• ingenious
• ingeniosity

Translations

someone possessing extraordinary intelligence or skill

Armenian: հանճար (hanč̣ar) Bulgarian: гений (bg) (génij) m. Catalan: geni (ca) m. Chinese: 天才 (tiān cái) Czech: génius (cs) m. Dutch: genie (nl) n. Estonian: geenius Finnish: nero (fi) French: génie (fr) German: Genie (de) n. Greek: μεγαλοφυία (el) (megalofi'ía) f., ιδιοφυία (el) (iðiofi'ía) f. Hungarian: géniusz (hu), zseni (hu), lángész (hu), lángelme (hu)

Japanese: 天才 (tensai) Korean: 천재 (天才, cheonjae) Kurdish: بلیمه‌ت Macedonian: гениј (mk) (génij) m., генијалец (mk) (genijálec) m. Polish: geniusz (pl) Portuguese: gênio (pt) m., gênia (pt) f. Romanian: geniu (ro) n. Russian: гений (ru) (génij) m. Slovene: genij (sl) m. Spanish: genio (es) m., genia  (es) f. Vietnamese: bậc anh tài (vi)

extraordinary mental capacity

Armenian: հանճար (hanč̣ar) Catalan: geni (ca) m. Danish: geni (da) Dutch: genialiteit f. Estonian: geniaalsus Finnish: nerokkuus (fi) German: Genialität f. Hungarian: zsenialitás (hu)

Macedonian: генијалност (mk) (genijálnost) f., гениј (mk) (génij) m. Polish: geniusz (pl) Romanian: genialitate (ro) f. Russian: гениальность (geniál’nost’) f., одарённость (odarjónnost’) f. Slovene: genialnost f. Spanish: genio (es) m. Vietnamese: thiên tài (vi)

External links

• genius in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• genius in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

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Latin

Etymology

From Latin gens, household, clan, tribe + suffix -ius.

This definition is lacking an etymology or has an incomplete etymology. You can help Wiktionary by giving it a proper etymology.

Noun

genius (genitive geniī); m, second declension

1. household guardian spirit

Inflection

Number	Singular	Plural
nominative	genius	geniī
genitive	geniī	geniōrum
dative	geniō	geniīs
accusative	genium	geniōs
ablative	geniō	geniīs
vocative	genie	geniī