See also:

• GENIUS (from Lat. genere, gignere)

GENIUS (from See also:

• LAT

Lat. genere, gignere)  , a See also:

• TERM

term which originally meant, in See also:

• ROMAN

Roman See also:

• MYTHOLOGY

mythology, a generative and protecting spirit, who has no exact parallel in See also:

• GREEK
• GREEK, ETRUSCAN AND

Greek See also:

• RELIGION
• RELIGION, FOLKLORE, CUSTOM

religion, and at least in his earlier aspect is of purely See also:

• ITALIAN

Italian origin as one of the deities of See also:

• FAMILY

family or See also:

• HOUSEHOLD, ROYAL

household . Every See also:

• MAN
• MAN, ISLE OF (anc. Mona)

man has his See also:

• GENIUS (from Lat. genere, gignere)

genius, who is not his creator, but only comes into being with him and is allotted to him at his See also:

• BIRTH (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages from the root of the verb " to bear ")

birth . As a creative principle the genius is restricted conceivable See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form of See also:

• ORIGINAL

original ability, something altogether extraordinary and beyond even supreme educational prowess, and differing, in See also:

• KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind apparently, from " See also:

• TALENT (Lat. talentum, adaptation of Gr. TaXavrov, balance, ! Recollections of a First Visit to the Alps (1841); Vacation Rambles weight, from root raX-, to lift, as in rXi vac, to bear, 1-aXas, and Thoughts, comprising recollections of three Continental

talent," which is usually distinguished as marked intellectual capacity See also:

• SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short only of the inexplicable and unique endowment to which the term genius " is confined . The See also:

• ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt, however, to define either quality, or to discriminate accurately between them, has given rise to continual controversy, and there is no agreement as to the nature of either; and the commonly quoted See also:

• DEFINITIONS

definitions of genius—such as See also:

• CARLYLE, ALEXANDER (1722-1805)
• CARLYLE, JOSEPH DACRE (1759-18o4)
• CARLYLE, THOMAS (1795-1881)

Carlyle's " transcendant capacity of taking trouble, first of all,"1 in which the last three words are usually forgotten—are either admittedly incomplete or are of the nature of epigrams . Nor can it be said that any substantial See also:

• LIGHT

light has been thrown on the See also:

• MATTER

matter by the See also:

• MODERN

modern physiological school, See also:

• LOMBROSO, CESARE (1836-1909)

Lombroso and others, who regard the eccentricity of genius as its See also:

• PRIME, PRIMER AND PRIMING

prime See also:

• FACTOR (from Lat. facere, to make or do)

factor, and study it as a form of See also:

• MENTAL

mental derangement . The See also:

• ERROR (Lat. error, from errare, to wander, to err)

error here is partly in ignoring the See also:

• HISTORY

history of the word, and partly in misrepresenting the nature of the fact . There are many cases, no doubt, in which persons really insane, of one type or another, or with a history of See also:

• PHYSICAL

physical degeneration or See also:

• EPILEPSY (Gr. &L, upon, and kaµ)3avew, to seize), or FALLING

epilepsy, have shown remarkable originality, which may be described as genius, but there are at least just as many in whom no such physical abnormality can be observed . The word " genius " itself however has only gradually been used in See also:

• ENGLISH

English to See also:

• EXPRESS (through the French from the past participle of the Lat. exprimere, to press out, by transference used of representing objects in painting or sculpture, or of thoughts, &c. in words)

express the degree of original greatness which is beyond See also:

• ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

ordinary See also:

• POWERS, HIRAM (1805-1873)

powers of explanation, i.e. far beyond the capacity of the normal human being in creative See also:

• WORK

work; and it is a convenient term(like See also:

• NIETZSCHE, FRIEDRICH WILHELM (1844–1900)

Nietzsche's " superman ") for application to those rare individuals who in the course of See also:

• EVOLUTION

evolution reveal from See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time to time the heights to which humanity may develop, in literature, See also:

• ART

art, See also:

• SCIENCE (Lat. scientia, from scire; to learn, know)

science, or administrative See also:

• LIFE

life . The English usage was originally derived, naturally enough, from the Roman ideas contained in the term (with the See also:

• ANALOGY (Gr. avaXo-yLa, proportion)

analogy of the Greek & autos), and in the 16th and 17th centuries we find it See also:

• EQUIVALENT

equivalent simply to " distinctive See also:

• CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character or spirit," a meaning still commonly given to the word . The more modern sense is not even mentioned in See also:

• JOHNSON, ANDREW
• JOHNSON, ANDREW (1808–1875)
• JOHNSON, BENJAMIN (c. 1665-1742)
• JOHNSON, EASTMAN (1824–1906)
• JOHNSON, REVERDY (1796–1876)
• JOHNSON, RICHARD (1573–1659 ?)
• JOHNSON, RICHARD MENTOR (1781–1850)
• JOHNSON, SAMUEL (1709-1784)
• JOHNSON, SIR THOMAS (1664-1729)
• JOHNSON, SIR WILLIAM (1715–1774)
• JOHNSON, THOMAS

Johnson's See also:

• DICTIONARY

Dictionary, and represents an 18th-See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century development, primarily due to the See also:

• INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence of See also:

• GERMAN
• GERMAN, DUTCH AND SCANDINAVIAN

German writers; the meaning of " distinctive natural capacity or endowment " had gradually been applied specially to creative minds such as those of poets and artists, by contrast with those whose mental ability was due to the results of See also:

• EDUCATION

education and study, and the See also:

• ANTITHESIS (the Greek for " setting opposite ")

antithesis has extended since, through See also:

• CONSTANT, BENJAMIN (1845-1902)

constant discussions over the attempt to differentiate between the real nature of genius and that of " talent," until we now speak of the exceptional See also:

• PERSON, OFFENCES AGAINST THE

person not merely as having genius but as " a genius." This phraseology appears to indicate some reversion to the original Roman usage, and the See also:

• IDENTIFICATION (Lat. idem, the same)

identification of the See also:

• GREAT

great man with a generative spirit . Modern theories on the nature of " genius " should be studied with considerable detachment, but there is much that is interesting and thought-provoking in such See also:

• WORKS

works as J . F .

Nisbet's See also:

• INSANITY (from Lat. in, not, and sanus, sound)

Insanity of Genius (1891), See also:

• SIR

Sir See also:

• FRANCIS
• FRANCIS (FRarrcols) OF SALES, ST (1567-1622)
• FRANCIS (Lat. Franciscus, Ital. Francesco, Span. Francisco, Fr. Francois, Ger. Franz)
• FRANCIS, SIR PHILIP (174o-1818)

Francis See also:

• GALTON, SIR FRANCIS (1822– )

Galton's Hereditary Genius (new ed., 1892), and C . Lombroso's Man of Genius (Eng. trans., 1891) .