From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtalenttal‧ent /ˈtælənt/ ●●● W3 noun 1 [countable, uncountable]GOOD AT a natural ability to do something well He has a lot of talent, and his work is fresh and interesting.talent for She showed a talent for acting at an early age. a persuasive speaker with a natural talent for leadership His latest book reveals hidden talents. Sadly, she inherited none of her father’s musical talent. Your brother is a man of many talents. There’s a wealth of talent in English football.► see thesaurus at skill2 [uncountable]GOOD AT a person or people with a natural ability or skill Britain’s footballing talent3 [uncountable] British English informalATTRACT sexually attractive peopleCOLLOCATIONSverbshave talentGreg has a real talent for drawing.show talentZach was the only one who showed any natural talent.use your talentsThey have been using their artistic talents to brighten up the school.develop your talentEducation allows people to develop their talents to the full.waste your talentsThey felt their son was wasting his talents and his time.somebody’s talents flourish (=develop successfully)The school created an atmosphere in which young talent could flourish.adjectivesgreat/considerable/exceptional talentHe had a great talent for making money.real talentShe has real talent and with a little help she could go far.natural talentRonaldo is a player of immense natural talent.raw talent (=used to describe someone with natural ability who has not had much training)He’s got lots of raw talent but he needs a good coach.a hidden talentHave a go – you may discover a hidden talent!musical/artistic/creative etc talentIt was at school that Brian’s musical talents were spotted.talent + NOUNa talent contest/show/competitionDon’t assume winning a talent contest is a passport to success.phrasesa wealth of talent (=a large amount of talent)There’s a wealth of musical talent in New York and other large American cities.a pool of talent (=lots of talented people)Employers can draw on an enormous pool of talent in this area.
Examples from the Corpus
talent• Porter has a talent for making a difficult subject understandable and interesting.• Woods was chosen to play the cop because of his acting talent.• Local officials will speechify on Friday, followed by amateur talent performances.• The NBA is even searching grade schools for talent.• As a singer, she's a great talent.• A great talent here, and a veritable rubber man.• Others are noticing the impact of her talents.• I never knew you were so good at making speeches. Do you have any other hidden talents?• Teachers soon recognized and encouraged his talent for sculpture.• He owes everything to his talents...• The former requires minimal talent, hard work and a lot of luck.• You need talent and hard work to be a tennis player.• John Lennon's talent as a songwriter was matched by McCartney's talent as a composer.• Unfortunately, the talent level took a definite drop by the late-1980s.• The Blueprint Dance group has been set up to give young talent a chance to flourish away from the capital.wealth of talent• I can still recall the amazement of finding such a wealth of talent on show.• Canon John and the capacity audience of well-wishers were presented with a wealth of talent and a variety of music.• Now B.T.A. aim to utilise the wealth of talent in our city in film and video production.Origin talent (1400-1500) talent unit of weight or money in the ancient world ((9-21 centuries)), from Latin talentum, from Greek talanton; from a story in the Bible in which a man gives talents to his three servants, and two of them use them well 