Genius Meaning
/ˈd͡ʒiː.ni.əs/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounSomeone possessing extraordinary intelligence or skill; especially somebody who has demonstrated this by a creative or original work in science, music, art, etc.
nounExtraordinary mental capacity.
Sentence Examples
In general, it may be said that he is a genius in music.
In a word, he is a man of genius.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The young ____ solved the complex math problem in just five minutes.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The mathematician was widely recognized as a ____ after solving a problem that had puzzled experts for decades.
Word Origin & History
From Latin genius (“inborn nature; a tutelary deity of a person or place; wit, brilliance”), from gignō (“to beget, produce”), Old Latin genō, from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵenh₁-. Doublet of genio. See also genus and genie.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Marx stand höher, sah weiter, überblickte mehr und rascher als wir andern alle. Marx war ein Genie, wir andern höchstens Talente."
— 1962 [1888, 1886], Friedrich Engels, chapter IV, in Ludwig Feuerbach und der Ausgang der klassischen deutschen Philosophie (Marx-Engels-Werke; 21), page 292; English translation from Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy (Marx/Engels Collected Works; 26), translation of original in German, 1990, page 382:
"Excuse, therefore, the shortcomings of genius under the sudorific influence of the summer solstice; for be assured that the vertical sun, however it may dulcify and mature cherries, plums, and other fruitful ‘plumpitudes,’ is by no means favorable to the development of intellectual products."
— 1853, Whirligig, quotee, edited by William Kidd, Kidd’s Own Journal; for Inter-Communications on Natural History, Popular Science, and Things in General, volume IV, number 8, London: William Spooner, […]; Richard Groombridge and Sons, […], page 124, column 2:
"In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned."
— 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
"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."
— 1715, Edward Burnett Tylor, Primitive Culture:
"An old sinner, in shape of a khansamah, is the genius of the place, and has rarely aught else to tempt the tired traveller with than a “sudden death”—a fowl caught running in the yard, and dished up forthwith; […]"
— 1866, Frederick F. Wyman, From Calcutta to the Snowy Range, page 330:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The young ____ solved the complex math problem in just five minutes.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The mathematician was widely recognized as a ____ after solving a problem that had puzzled experts for decades.