ingenious

ingenious
\ \ [15] Ingenious used to be a more elevated term than it is today. To begin with it meant ‘highly intelligent’, but already by the 16th century it was starting to come down in the world somewhat to ‘cleverly inventive’. It comes, partly via French ingénieux, from Latin ingeniōsus, a derivative of ingeniumnatural talent, skill’ (a word which, like English gene, generate, genital, etc, goes back ultimately to Indo-European *gen- ‘produce’, and was also the source of English engine). Its formal similarity to the distantly related ingenuous has led in the past to its being used for ‘honest, open, frank’, and indeed its semantic derivative ingenuityquality of being ingenious’ [16] belongs etymologically to ingenuous.
\ \ Cf.GENE, GENERAL, GENERATE, GENITAL

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Ingenious — A game in play Designer(s) Reiner Knizia Publisher(s) Fantasy Flight Games Kosmos Sophisticated Games Players …   Wikipedia

  • Ingenious — In*gen ious, a. [L. ingeniosus, fr. ingenium innate or natural quality, natural capacity, genius: cf. F. ing[ e]nieux. See {Engine}.] 1. Possessed of genius, or the faculty of invention; skillful or promp to invent; having an aptitude to contrive …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • ingenious — ingenious, ingenuous These two words are distantly related and both have undergone a major shift in meaning. Ingenious came into English via French from a Latin source derived from ingenium ‘cleverness’; it originally meant ‘intellectual,… …   Modern English usage

  • ingenious — early 15c., intellectual, talented, from M.Fr. ingénieux clever, ingenious (O.Fr. engeignos), from L. ingeniosus of good capacity, full of intellect; clever, gifted with genius, from ingenium innate qualities, ability, lit. that which is inborn,… …   Etymology dictionary

  • ingenious — [in jēn′yəs] adj. [LME < MFr ingenieux < L ingeniosus, of good capacity, gifted with genius, ingenious < ingenium, innate quality, ability < in , in + gignere: see GENUS] 1. Obs. having genius; having great mental ability 2. clever,… …   English World dictionary

  • ingenious — index artful, competent, deft, expert, fertile, original (creative), politic, proficient …   Law dictionary

  • ingenious — cunning, *clever, adroit Analogous words: inventing or inventive, creating or creative, discovering (see corresponding verbs at INVENT): *dexterous, handy, deft: skillful, adept, skilled, expert, *proficient, masterly …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • ingenious — [adj] clever; brilliant able, adroit, artistic, bright, canny, crafty, creative, cunning, deviceful, dexterous, gifted, imaginative, innovational, innovative, innovatory, intelligent, inventive, original, ready, resourceful, shrewd, skillful, sly …   New thesaurus

  • ingenious — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ clever, original, and inventive. DERIVATIVES ingeniously adverb ingeniousness noun. ORIGIN Latin ingeniosus, from ingenium mind, intellect ; related to ENGINE(Cf. ↑engineless) …   English terms dictionary

  • ingenious — ingeniously, adv. ingeniousness, n. /in jeen yeuhs/, adj. 1. characterized by cleverness or originality of invention or construction: an ingenious machine. 2. cleverly inventive or resourceful: an ingenious press agent. 3. Obs. a. intelligent;… …   Universalium

  • ingenious — in•gen•ious [[t]ɪnˈdʒin yəs[/t]] adj. 1) characterized by cleverness or originality of invention: an ingenious argument[/ex] 2) cleverly inventive; resourceful: an ingenious mechanic[/ex] 3) Obs. a) intelligent; showing genius b) ingenuous •… …   From formal English to slang

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