Genius \Gen"ius\, n.; pl. E. Geniuses; in sense 1, L. Genii.
[L. genius, prop., the superior or divine nature which is
innate in everything, the spirit, the tutelar deity or genius
of a person or place, taste, talent, genius, from genere,
gignere, to beget, bring forth. See Gender, and cf.
Engine.]
1. A good or evil spirit, or demon, supposed by the ancients
to preside over a man's destiny in life; a tutelary deity;
a supernatural being; a spirit, good or bad. Cf. Jinnee.
Syn: genie.
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The unseen genius of the wood. --Milton.
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We talk of genius still, but with thought how
changed! The genius of Augustus was a tutelary
demon, to be sworn by and to receive offerings on
an altar as a deity. --Tylor.
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2. The peculiar structure of mind with which each individual
is endowed by nature; that disposition or aptitude of mind
which is peculiar to each man, and which qualifies him for
certain kinds of action or special success in any pursuit;
special taste, inclination, or disposition; as, a genius
for history, for poetry, or painting.
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3. Peculiar character; animating spirit, as of a nation, a
religion, a language.
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4. Distinguished mental superiority; uncommon intellectual
power; especially, superior power of invention or
origination of any kind, or of forming new combinations;
as, a man of genius.
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Genius of the highest kind implies an unusual
intensity of the modifying power. --Coleridge.
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5. A man endowed with uncommon vigor of mind; a man of
superior intellectual faculties and creativity; as,
Shakespeare was a rare genius.
Syn: Genius, Talent.
Usage: Genius implies high and peculiar gifts of nature,
impelling the mind to certain favorite kinds of mental
effort, and producing new combinations of ideas,
imagery, etc. Talent supposes general strength of
intellect, with a peculiar aptitude for being molded
and directed to specific employments and valuable ends
and purposes. Genius is connected more or less with
the exercise of imagination, and reaches its ends by a
kind of intuitive power. Talent depends more on high
mental training, and a perfect command of all the
faculties, memory, judgment, sagacity, etc. Hence we
speak of a genius for poetry, painting. etc., and a
talent for business or diplomacy. Among English
orators, Lord Chatham was distinguished for his
genius; William Pitt for his pre["e]minent talents,
and especially his unrivaled talent for debate.
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Genius loci[L.], the genius or presiding divinity of a
place; hence, the pervading spirit of a place or
institution, as of a college, etc.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
genius
n 1: someone who has exceptional intellectual ability and
originality; "Mozart was a child genius"; "he's smart
but he's no Einstein" [syn: mastermind, brain, Einstein]
2: unusual mental ability [syn: brilliance]
3: someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field [syn: ace,
adept, champion, sensation, maven, mavin, virtuoso,
hotshot, star, superstar, whiz, whizz, wizard,
wiz]
4: exceptional creative ability [syn: wizardry]
5: a natural talent; "he has a flair for mathematics"; "he has
a genius for interior decorating" [syn: flair]
[also: genii (pl)]
WordNet (r) 2.0
329 Moby Thesaurus words for "genius":
A per se, Baba Yaga, Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Geist, Lilith,
Melpomene, Muse, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia, ability,
ableness, academician, ace, acuity, acuteness, adept, adequacy,
adroitness, afflatus, afreet, ancestral spirits, angel,
animating spirit, animation, animus, aptitude, aptness,
artistic imagination, astuteness, attendant godling, atua,
barghest, bent, body-build, bookman, boss, brain, braininess,
brains, brand, brightness, brilliance, bump, cacodemon, caliber,
capability, capableness, capacity, cast, champion, character,
characteristic, characteristics, chief, child prodigy, classicist,
clear thinking, clerk, cleverness, colossus of knowledge,
commander, competence, complexion, composition, conception,
constituents, constitution, control, crackerjack, crasis,
creative imagination, creative power, creative thought, creativity,
daemon, daeva, daimonion, dean, demon, devil, dexterity, dharma,
diathesis, disposition, divine afflatus, dower, dowry, dybbuk,
efficacy, efficiency, endowment, enlivenment, equipment,
esemplastic imagination, esemplastic power, esprit, ethos,
evil genius, evil spirit, evil spirits, exhilaration, expert,
facility, faculty, fairy godmother, familiar, familiar spirit,
fiber, fiend, fiend from hell, fire, fire of genius, firing,
first-rater, fitness, flair, forte, frame, fugleman, genie,
genius domus, genius loci, ghoul, giant of learning, gift,
gifted child, gifted person, giftedness, gifts, good angel,
good genius, good hand, grain, grasp, great, guardian,
guardian angel, guardian spirit, guide, gyre, habit, head, hellion,
higher-up, household gods, hue, humanist, humor, humors, ilk,
incubus, infection, infusion, ingenuity, inspiration, instinct,
intellect, intellectual genius, intellectual prodigy, intelligence,
inventiveness, invisible helper, jinni, jinniyeh, keen-wittedness,
keenness, kind, knack, lamia, lares and penates, lares compitales,
lares familiaris, lares permarini, lares praestites, lares viales,
laureate, leader, leading light, learned clerk, learned man,
literary man, litterateur, long suit, lover of learning, luminary,
maestro, magician, mahatma, makeup, makings, man of genius,
man of learning, man of letters, man of parts, manes, master,
master hand, mastermind, mental alertness, mental genius,
mental giant, mercurial mind, metier, mine of information,
ministering angel, mold, moving spirit, muse, mythicization,
mythification, mythopoeia, native cleverness, natural,
natural endowment, natural gift, nature, nimble mind,
nimble-wittedness, nimbleness, nonpareil, nous, numen, originality,
paragon, parts, past master, penates, philologist, philologue,
philomath, philosophe, philosopher, physique, poetic imagination,
polyhistor, polymath, potential, power, powers, practiced hand,
principal, prodigy, proficiency, property, pundit, qualification,
quality, quick parts, quick thinking, quick wit, quick-wittedness,
quickness, rakshasa, ready wit, ruler, sage, satan, savant, savvy,
scholar, scholastic, schoolman, senior, shaping imagination,
sharp-wittedness, sharpness, shedu, skilled hand, smartness,
smarts, somatotype, sort, soul, special providence, speciality,
specter, spirit, sprightly wit, stamp, star, streak, stripe,
strong flair, strong point, student, succubus, suchness,
sufficiency, superior, superman, supernatural being, superstar,
susceptibility, system, talent, talents, temper, temperament,
tendency, tenor, the goods, the greatest, the most, the stuff,
the undead, tone, top dog, topnotcher, totem, turn, tutelar god,
tutelary, type, understanding, vampire, vein, virtuoso,
walking encyclopedia, way, what it takes, whiz, wit, wizard,
wonder, yogini
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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