What is a talent in ancient Greece?

The Attic talent (a talent of the Attic standard), also known as the Athenian talent or Greek talent (Greek: τάλαντον, talanton), is an ancient unit of weight equal to about 26 kilograms (57 lb), as well as a unit of value equal to this amount of pure silver.

Is talent a Greek word?

The word “talent” in English comes from the Greek word “talanton”. The word “talent” in modern English should be a combination of “daimon” and “talanton”.

What did the word talent originally mean?

Word Origin for talent Old English talente, from Latin talenta, pl of talentum sum of money, from Greek talanton unit of money or weight; in Medieval Latin the sense was extended to ability through the influence of the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14–30)

What is the Hebrew word for talent?

The Meaning of ‘Talent’ The Hebrew term for “talent” was kikkār, a flat, round gold or silver disk, or circular-shaped loaf. In the Greek language, the word comes from tálanton, a large monetary measurement equal to 6,000 drachmas or denarii, the Greek and Roman silver coins.

How much weight is a talent?

The heavy common talent, used in New Testament times, was 58.9 kg (129 lb 14 oz). A Roman weight talent in ancient times is equivalent to 100 librae; a libra is exactly three quarters of an Attic weight mina, so a Roman talent is 11⁄3 Attic talents and hence approximately 32.3 kg (71 lb 3 oz).

When was talent invented?

The talent was a unit of weight that was introduced in Mesopotamia at the end of the 4th millennium BC, and was normalized at the end of the 3rd millennium during the Akkadian-Sumer phase.

What is gold talent?

When used as a measure of money, it refers to a talent-weight of gold or of silver. The gold talent is reported as weighing roughly the same as a person, and so perhaps 50 kg (>110 lb avoirdupois). Some authorities say that the talent typically weighed about 33 kg (>72 lb) varying from 20 to 40 kg.