*Pronunciation:* Brit. ˈdʒiːnɪəs , U.S. ˈdʒinjəs
Inflections: Plural genii ˈdʒiːnɪaɪ , geniuses.
Forms:* ME– *genius, 15–16 genij (plural), 16–18 genious (nonstandard); also Sc. pre-17 genyus; Irish English 19– janius; U.S. regional 18– genus.
*Etymology:* < classical Latin genius male spirit of a family, existing in the head of the family and subsequently in the divine or spiritual part of each individual, personification of a person’s natural appetites, spirit or personality of an emperor regarded as an object of worship, spirit of a place, spirit of a corporation, (in literature) talent, inspiration, person endowed with talent, also demon or spiritual being in general (2nd cent. a.d.), a formation in -ius (suffix chiefly forming adjectives) on a base ultimately related to that of gignere to beget (see genital adj.).
With the semantic development in English, compare Middle French, French génie , as well as German Genius and Genie (see below).
The Latin noun was also borrowed into other Romance languages; compare Spanish genio (1490), Portuguese gênio (1567), Italian genio (/a/1327), all in a similar range of senses.
Compare later genie n.
Chief senses of the French and German parallels.
The chief senses of French génie are: patron saint (1482), (in classical pagan belief) tutelary god or attendant spirit allotted to every person at birth (a/1500; rare before 1571), a person’s characteristic disposition (1532), mythical being, good or bad, which influences a person’s fate (1637), natural character of a thing (1640), distinctive character or spirit (1641, originally with reference to the character of a people), exceptionally talented person (1697), quasi-mythological personification of something immaterial, especially as portrayed in painting or sculpture (1704), spirit in Arabian and Muslim stories and legend (1704 in Galland’s translation of the /Arabian Nights).
The chief senses of German Genius are: a person’s attendant spirit (good or evil) (1541, originally with reference to the supernatural being in which the classical Greeks and Romans believed), distinctive character or spirit (1593 with reference to places (after classical Latin genius locī genius loci n.), 1692 with reference to a period of time, 1693 with reference to languages, 1772 with reference to peoples and countries), a person’s exceptional talent or exceptional creativity (end of the 16th cent.; rare before mid 18th cent.), quasi-mythological personification of something immaterial, especially as portrayed in painting or sculpture (end of the 17th cent.), exceptionally talented person (1780). In the last two senses, the usual German word is now Genie .
The chief senses of German Genie ( < French génie ) are: natural character or disposition (1678, originally with reference to people and (equally early) to peoples and countries; from 1728 also with reference to language), a person’s exceptional talent’ (early 18th cent.; from the first half of the 18th cent. also ‘an artist’s exceptional creativity, innate rather than acquired by training, and emphasizing the originality of his or her artistic output’), exceptionally talented person (early 18th cent.; especially in early use, this sense is sometimes difficult to distinguish from ‘a person’s exceptional talent’).
In German, the application of Genie to artists shows a gradual development from the more general sense ‘exceptional talent’, under the influence of the theory of aesthetics and (in later use) of the Romantic movement, and also of French and English works of literary criticism. The originality of the artist (as distinct from imitation of existing models) was especially emphasized by the German Sturm und Drang movement (see Sturm und Drang n.).
Especially in senses relating to talent or aptitude, the semantic development of the Romance and German nouns was probably influenced by association with classical Latin ingenium (see engine n.) and related words; compare e.g. French génie engineering (a/1708, originally in the specific military sense ‘art of constructing works of defence’), which reflects semantic influence of /ingénieur engineer n.
Specific senses.
With the use in sense A. 1a compare the following early use of Genius as the name of an allegorical figure representing the spirit of morality in human beings (after similar Old French use in the Roman de la rose, 13th cent.):
▸/a/1393 Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. l. 196 (MED), O Genius, myn oghne Clerk, Com forth and hier this mannes schrifte.
a/1425 (▸?a1400) Chaucer /Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 4768 They..Whom Genius cursith man and wyf That wrongly werke ageyn nature.
c/1450 (▸?c1408) Lydgate /Reson & Sensuallyte l. 6623 (MED), Genivs, That hooly prest of Dame Venus.
With sense A. 2, compare the following earlier attestation of the classical Latin noun in this sense in an English context:
1538 T. Elyot Dict./ /Genius, an aungell… Some dydde put two gouernours of the sowle, a good and an euyll, Bonus genius, & malus genius, wyche neuer departed from vs.
In later use in sense A. 3 frequently after Arabic jinn, collective noun (see jinn n.) and the corresponding singular noun jinnī (see jinnee n.), via French génie (compare genie n.).
In sense A. 6e after classical Latin genius locī genius loci n.
Plural forms.
The Latinate plural form genii appears to be most common in senses of Branch A. I., the plural form geniuses in senses of Branch A. II.
*A.* n.
*I.* A supernatural being, and related senses.
*1.*
*a.* With reference to classical pagan belief: the tutelary god or attendant spirit allotted to every person at birth to govern his or her fortunes and determine personal character, and finally to conduct him or her out of the world. Also: a guardian spirit similarly associated with a place, institution, thing, etc.; cf. genius loci n. 1. Now chiefly /hist./Worship or propitiation of genii with ceremonies, festivities, dedications, etc., was common throughout the Roman Empire.
▸/a/1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John’s Cambr.) (1871) III. 297 God genius is to menynge a spirit þat foloweþ a man al his lyf time.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid ix. iv. 49 Gif that euery mannis schrewit desyre Be as his God and Genyus in that place.
c/1540 J. Bellenden in tr. H. Boece /Hyst. & Cron. Scotl. sig. Aiijv, Thair is na thing may be so odius To man, as leif in miserie and wo Defraudand god of nature Genius.
1607 M. Drayton Legend Cromwel 3 The pale Genius of that aged flood.
a/1640 T. Risdon /Chorogr. Surv. Devon (1811) (modernized text) §225 237 Genii of the spring.
1693 Dryden tr. Juvenal Satires iv. 61 To your glad Genius sacrifice this day [L. /genialis agatur iste dies/]; Let common Meats respectfully give way.
1701 N. Rowe Ambitious Step-mother i. i. 51 Let their Guardian Genii still be watchful.
1747 W. Collins Odes 32 Britannia’s Genius bends to Earth.
1834 T. Carlyle Sartor Resartus ii. v. 51/2 It was his guiding Genius (Dämon) that inspired him; he must go forth and meet his Destiny.
1843 Dickens Christmas Carol i. 19 It seemed as if the Genius of the Weather sat in mournful meditation on the threshold.
1962 R. W. Hutchinson Prehist. Crete viii. 124 It was the house snake that was fed and revered as the genius, the guardian angel of the house.
1983 L. Hyde Gift iii. 53 According to Apuleius, if a man cultivated his genius through..sacrifice, it would become a lar, a protective household god, when he died.
2011 W. E. Dunstan Anc. Rome xvi. 246 A senatorial decree mandated that a libation to his [/sc./ Augustus’] genius should be poured at every formal dinner.
†*b.* In extended use: a person’s appetite. Obs. rare.
1607 B. Jonson Volpone i. i. 71 What should I do, But cocker vp my Genius, and liue free To all delights, my fortune calls me to?
*2.* Either of two mutually opposed spirits imagined as accompanying a person throughout his or her life and exerting either a good or bad influence. Hence in extended use: a person who exerts a good or bad influence over another’s character, conduct, or fortunes. Freq. modified by good, evil (see evil genius n. at evil adj. and n.1 Additions). Cf. bonus genius n., malus genius n. Now somewhat rare.Such genii are comparable to good and bad angels in Christian contexts (see angel n. 1c).
1572 R. Harrison tr. L. Lavater Of Ghostes i. i. 3 We haue two Genij, wherof the one encourageth vs to doo well, the other to doo euill.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 365 A tradition of two Genii, which attend every man, one good, the other evill.
1660 J. S. Andromana iii. v. sig. F, My better Genius, thou art welcome, as A draught of water to a thirsty man.
1719 C. Johnson Masquerade i. i. 3 Oh, here comes my Evil Angel, my Bad Genius.
1825 C. H. Phipps Eng. in Italy II. 202 He must have propitiated his good genius to keep him from the extreme of the ridiculous.
1868 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest II. vii. 24 It needed the intervention of his better genius in the form of Godwine.
1909 H. R. Haggard Yellow God 108 The symbols of the good and evil genii on a Mohammedan tomb.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses 590 Still, it’s solid food, his good genius urged.
1996 M. Gauna Rabelaisian Mythol. iii. 143 Not one whit abashed by this invitation to follow his good rather than his bad genius..Panurge undertakes to defend his garb.
*3.* Any supernatural being or spirit. In later use also: spec. = genie n. 3a.In later use the pl. form genii may sometimes be intended as the plural of genie n. 3a.
a/1592 R. Greene /Frier Bacon (1594) sig. E4, Whereas the Piromanticke genij [/printed/ gemij; 1630 Genij], Are mightie, swift, and of farre reaching power.
1646 G. Buck Hist. Life Richard III Ded., To the common-rout, they..are another kind of Genius, or ignis fatuus.
1681 H. More Plain Expos. Daniel ii. 25 The activity therefore of the Aerial Genii or Angels may be understood by these Winds.
1779 B. Franklin Wks. (1889) VI. 261 Albumazar..was visited nightly by genii and spirits of the first rank.
1782 J. Warton Ess. on Pope (new ed.) II. x. 236 It seemed one of those edifices in Fairy Tales, that are raised by genii in a night’s time.
1836 Friend 2 Jan. 98/1 Like the genius of the lamp in the stories of Eastern romance, coal is resorted to for performing numerous useful services.
1875 W. E. Gladstone in Contemp. Rev. June 6 The whole narrative really recalls the most graceful fictions of wise genii and gentle fairies.
1905 Jrnl. Proc. & Addr. 4th Ann. Meeting Nat. Educ. Assoc. 876 Dwarfs or giants, elves or goblins, witches or genii.
1974 K. Little Urbanization as Social Process iv. 49 People live domestically in extended families..and believe in the existence of genii and bush spirits.
2010 J. Goody Myth, Ritual, & Oral vi. 88 The ‘beings of the wild’ (of hill and water sprites, genii or fairies, as they are variously known in the literature) play an intermediary role between God and humans.
*4.* Chiefly with of. A quasi-mythological personification of something immaterial (as a virtue, custom, institution, etc.), esp. as portrayed in painting or sculpture. Also: a person or animal that embodies some specified abstract idea. Now rare.
1600 Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 iii. ii. 309 A was the very genius of famine.
1789 Gentleman’s Mag. Apr. 370/2 On one side was seen a genius representing Commerce.
1814 Analectic Mag. Mar. 253 In this frightful plight, looking like the very genius of carnage and ill-luck, he came up to Perry.
1842 S. Lover Handy Andy xvi. 147 The Genius of Disaster, with aspect malign, waved her sable wand.
1874 B. Harte in St. Nicholas Mag. July 507/1 A golden lizard, the very genius of desolate stillness, had stopped breathless upon the threshold of one cabin.
1901 C. E. Bolton Model Village Homes 123 The base of the July Column..is surmounted by a bronze Genius of Liberty.
*5.* Astrol. A god, spirit, or other figure associated with the influences of an astrological body; a combination of sidereal influences represented in a person’s horoscope. Now rare.
1644 Milton Doctr. Divorce (ed. 2) 25 But what might be the cause, whether each ones alotted Genius or proper Starre, or [etc.].
1657 H. Pinnell tr. Crollius Philos. Reformed 67 The other part therefore of Man, or this sydereall body is called the Genius of man, because it proceedeth from the Firmament; it is called Penates, because it is in our power and born with us, the shadow of the visible body, Lar domesticus, the good or bad houshold or private Angell.
1742 R. Long Astron. I. ii. vi. 211 Every one of these parts also was supposed to have its particular genius of a lower order, upon which account the influences of the heavenly bodies were thought to be different in different parts of the same sign.
1795 T. Maurice Hist. Hindostan I. vii. 247 Rohini, the sidereal genius that presides in the fourth lunar mansion.
1800 W. Johnston tr. Paulinus Voy. E. Indies ii. ix. 347 The genius of this star is supposed, by the Indians, to be an old man invested with the priesthood, who presides over the course of time, and devours children.
1865 A. P. Marras Secret Fraternities Middle Ages iii. 26 The seven planetary geniuses, of which Ialdabaoth is the chief, have the principal part in the government of the world and of mankind.
1996 J. L. Lehman tr. ‘Papus’ Astrol. Initiates iii. 81 The seven major planetary geniuses govern the head, seat of intelligence and of the will.
*II.* Character, ability, and related senses.
*6.*
†*a.* A person’s characteristic disposition; natural inclination; temperament. Obs.
a/1586 Sir P. Sidney /Apol. Poetrie (1595) sig. I3v, A Poet, no industrie can make, if his owne Genius bee not carried vnto it.
1600 B. Jonson Every Man out of his Humor ii. i. 87, I cannot frame me to your harsh vulgar phrase, ‘tis agaynst my Genius.
1686 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 16 64 There have been various ways thought of for Expressing Significancy, according to the several Genii of the Persons that were the Inventors.
1690 J. Evelyn Mem. (1857) III. 318 Its being suitable to my rural genius, born as I was at Wotton, among the woods.
1713 W. Derham Physico-theol. v. i. 312 There is the same Reason for the Variety of Genii, or Inclinations of Men also.
1761 D. Hume Hist. Eng. III. lxi. 319 Men of such daring geniuses were not contented with the ancient and legal forms of civil government.
1781 J. Moore View Society & Manners Italy I. xvi. 129 The intriguing genius of Pope Julius the Second.
*b.* With reference to a group of people, a nation, period of time, etc.: prevalent feeling, opinion, sentiment, or taste; distinctive character or spirit. Also: a personification of this.
1639 T. Fuller Hist. Holy Warre v. xix. 260 The warre-genius of the world is altered now-a-dayes, and supplieth number with policie.
1645 J. Howell Epistolæ Ho-elianæ i. xli. 84 Before I wean my self from Italy, a word or two touching the genius of the Nation.
1665 R. Boyle Occas. Refl. vi. i. sig. Mm7, My Acquaintedness with the Genius of the Age had sadly taught me, that I was to alter my Method.
1701 Swift Disc. Contests Nobles & Commons v. 50 The People of England are of a Genius and Temper, never to admit Slavery among them.
1761 D. Hume Hist. Eng. to Henry VII I. 317 The barbarous and violent genius of the age.
1803 W. Tennant Indian Recreations II. 162 Operations requiring no effort..and on that account peculiarly suited to the genius of the indolent Bengalese.
1841 H. J. Stephen New Comm. Laws Eng. I. 78 Owing perhaps to some peculiar averseness in the early genius of the country from change in its legal institutions.
1872 J. Morley Voltaire i. 4 The rays from Voltaire’s burning and far-shining spirit..struck upon the genius of the time, seated dark and dead like the black stone of Memnon’s statue.
1935 C. Eliot Japanese Buddhism xvii. 397 Zen..had not been in harmony with the genius of the age.
1996 P. R. Magocsi Hist. Ukraine ii. 19 The view that the people were the driving force in history also led populist writers to try to discover the peculiar genius of ethnic Ukrainians.
*c.* With reference to a language, law, institution, etc.: prevailing character or spirit; general intent or meaning; characteristic method or procedure.
1647 N. Bacon Hist. Disc. Govt. 136 The right genius of this law will also more evidently appeare by the practice of those times.
1699 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris (new ed.) 244 The Genius and Constitution of Tragedy.
1705 J. Addison Remarks Italy 183 They are chiefly to be ascrib’d to the very Genius of the Roman Catholick Religion.
1744 J. Harris Three Treat. Advt. 249 Those Treatises, being written in Dialogue, from their Nature and Genius admit not of Interruption.
1797 E. Burke Three Mem. French Affairs Pref. 8 They will examine into the true character and genius of some late events.
1838 J. C. Calhoun in Niles’ Weekly Reg. 24 Mar. 57/3 The genius of our constitution is opposed to the assumption of power.
1875 B. Stewart & P. G. Tait Unseen Universe (1878) i. §36. 54 The whole genius of Christianity would appear to point towards a total submission.
1904 C. T. Onions Adv. Eng. Syntax 68 The Absolute construction seems in all periods to have been felt to be foreign to the genius of English.
1968 G. Dietze America’s Polit. Dilemma vii. 216 For Hamilton, the genius of democracy could well conflict with the genius of the Constitution.
2009 T. W. Machan Lang. Anxiety v. 203 This argument took the form of advocacy for the ‘genius’ of each language, that is for the intrinsic character of a language’s form and semantics.
†*d.* With reference to a material thing, a disease, etc.: natural character or constitution; inherent tendency. Obs.
1675 N. Grew Compar. Anat. Trunks ii. vi. 72 Convolvula’s do not wind by any peculiar nature or Genius.
1697 Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 51 The Culture suiting to the sev’ral Kinds Of Seeds and Plants; and what will thrive and rise, And what the Genius of the Soil denies.
1725 Pope tr. Homer Odyssey II. ix. 152 Here all products and all plants abound, Sprung from the fruitful genius of the ground.
1747 G. Berkeley Tar-water in Plague in Wks. (1871) III. 483 Fevers..change their genius in different seasons.
*e.* The essential character or atmosphere of a place; = genius loci n. 2. Chiefly in genius of the place.
1741 J. Lawry & H. Heaton in Athenian Lett. I. 59 The richness of her [/sc./ nature’s] dress seems to arise from the genius of the place.
1770 T. Whately Observ. Mod. Gardening 256 In this application, the genius of the place must be particularly considered; to force it is hazardous, and an attempt to contradict it is always unsuccessful.
1823 C. Lamb in London Mag. Oct. 406/1 Is the being shown over a place the same as silently for ourselves detecting the genius of it?
1863 J. H. Burton Bk.-hunter 48 In a noble library the visitor is enchained to reverence and courtesy by the genius of the place.
1903 Univ. Virginia Alumni Bull. Oct. 166 The genius of this place is, or ought to be, the spirit of brotherhood in the common pursuit of knowledge.
1991 National Trust Mag. Spring 7/1 Although the income generated by tea-rooms, shops and plant centres is of great importance to the Trust, it is vital that their presence should not be allowed to interfere with ‘the genius of the place’.
*7.*
*a.* With for, †/to/ or infinitive. A person’s natural aptitude for, or inclination towards, a specified thing or action.In later use with admixture of sense A. 9.
1611 B. Jonson Catiline iv. sig. L, I ha’ no genius to these many counsels.
1643 Sir T. Browne Religio Medici (Authorized ed.) i. §6, I have no Genius to disputes in Religion.
1707 J. Archdale New Descr. Carolina 11, I advise, That such Missionaries be well skill’d in Chymistry, and some natural Genius to seek the Virtues in Herbs, Metts and Minerals.
1788 J. Priestley Lect. Hist. v. l. 381 A genius for science by no means depends upon climate.
1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India II. v. viii. 684 He had no genius, any more than Clive, for schemes of policy including large views of the past.
1844 E. B. Browning Crowned & Buried in Poems II. 151 He had The genius to be loved.
1889 J. R. Lowell Walton in Latest Ess. (1891) 80 Walton had a genius for friendships.
1937 ‘M. J. Farrell’ Rising Tide xix. 138 He had a genius for prolonging a visit if a house suited him.
1995 T. Parks Ital. Educ. 16 My father-in-law has a genius for appearing hard-done-by.
*b.* Natural ability or capacity; quality of mind; attributes which suit a person for his or her peculiar work. Also: an instance of this.In later use with admixture of sense A. 9.
1649 Milton Εικονοκλαστης xxviii. 241 To unsettle the conscience of any knowing Christian [is a thing] above the genius of his Cleric elocution.
1662 J. Evelyn Sculptura iv. 74 Hugens..so worthily celebrated for his..universal Mathematical Genius.
1725 T. Hearne in R. Mannyng Chron. I. Pref. 27 For no Study can be more pleasant to Persons of a genius than that of our National History and Antiquities.
1729 B. Franklin Modest Enq. 17 Different Men have Genius’s adapted to Variety of different Arts and Manufactures.
1759 W. Robertson Hist. Scotl. I. i. 68 His genius was of that kind which ripens slowly.
1831 D. Brewster Life I. Newton xi. 162 The peculiar genius of Newton has been displayed in his investigation of the law of universal gravitation.
1853 E. Bulwer-Lytton My Novel I. ii. x. 149 The Squire, whose active genius was always at some repair or improvement.
1934 T. J. Hardy Bks. on Shelf xi. 212 Romances he certainly attempted, under the misguided idea that his genius lay in that direction.
1989 D. Okrent & S. Wulf Baseball Anecd. i. 7 His true genius was as an organizer and a manager of men.
2002 A. Whitaker in R. A. Bertlmann & A. Zeilinger Quantum (Un)speakables ii. 7 We may wonder why his particular genius took him towards analysis of the structure and interpretation of the quantum theory.
*8.*
†*a.* With modifying adjective. A person with the specified level of natural ability or aptitude. Also: a person with a disposition or temperament of the specified kind. /Obs./In later use passing into sense A. 8b, from which it is difficult to distinguish.
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 39 The great Genius and interpreter of Nature Aristotle.
a/1645 W. Browne tr. M. Le Roy /Hist. Polexander (1647) v. i. 294 Those great Genius’s, on whom most Kings disburthen themselves of the government of their Estates.
1697 K. Chetwood Pref. to Pastorals in Dryden tr. Virgil Wks. sig. ****2v, Extraordinary Genius’s have a sort of Prerogative, which may dispence them from Laws.
1731 A. Hill Advice to Poets 18 Vulgar Genii, sowr’d by sharp Disdain.
1768 W. Gilpin Ess. Prints 237 With a little genius nothing sways like a great name.
*b.* An exceptionally intelligent or talented person, or one with exceptional skill in a particular area of art, science, etc.; a person having genius (sense A. 9). Now also in weakened or ironic use./boy genius/: see the first element.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 161. ¶1 There is no Character more frequently given to a Writer, than that of being a Genius. I have heard many a little Sonneteer called a fine Genius.
1762 H. Walpole Vertue’s Anecd. Painting II. ii. 55 Under the direction of that genius [/sc./ Inigo Jones] the King erected the house at Greenwich.
1800 C. Lamb Let. 9 Oct. in Lett. C. & M. A. Lamb (1975) I. 240 All Poems are good Poems to George. All men are fine Geniuses.
1806 H. Siddons Maid, Wife, & Widow I. 173 Isaac was a good-dispositioned, industrious boy, but no genius.
1873 H. Rogers Superhuman Origin Bible (1875) ix. 382 Certain transcendent geniuses—the Bacons, the Newtons, the Shakespeares, the Miltons.
1915 N. W. Putnam Little Missioner xxii. 295 Miss Watts, you’re a genius!
1942 Life 22 June 45 (advt.) You don’t have to be a genius at mental arithmetic to figure the total price.
1962 D. Berry Moontrap xix. 302 ‘Wonderful,’ Monday said. ‘You’re a real genius, now.’ ‘Don’t get smart, Monday,’ Thurston said.
2008 New Yorker 12 May 54/2 Bell was clearly one in a million, a genius who went on to have ideas in an extraordinary number of areas.
*9.* Innate intellectual or creative power of an exceptional or exalted type, such as is attributed to those people considered greatest in any area of art, science, etc.; instinctive and extraordinary capacity for imaginative creation, original thought, invention, or discovery. Cf. sense A. 8b.This sense can be understood as a development of sense A. 7b, applied originally to artists and poets to denote that particular kind of intellectual or creative power which appears to proceed from inspiration and arrive at its results in an inexplicable and miraculous manner. Genius is regarded as a higher quality than talent, with which it has often been contrasted, as noted by N.E.D. (1898): ‘It was by the German writers of the 18th century that the distinction between ‘genius’ and ‘talent’, which had some foundation in French usage, was sharpened into the strong antithesis which is now universally current, so that the one term is hardly ever defined without reference to the other.’ (See also quot. 1834.)
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones V. xiv. i. 107 By the wonderful Force of Genius only, without the least Assistance of Learning.
1783 H. Blair Lect. Rhetoric I. iii. 41 Genius always imports something inventive or creative.
1801 H. Fuseli Lect. Painting I. i. 6 By genius I mean that power which enlarges the circle of human knowledge, which discovers new materials of nature, or combines the known with novelty.
1834 T. De Quincey Sketches Life & Manners in Tait’s Edinb. Mag. Mar. 89 Talent and genius..are not merely different, they are in polar opposition to each other. Talent is intellectual power of every kind, which acts and manifests itself..through the will and the active forces. Genius..is that much rarer species of intellectual power which is derived from the genial nature—from the spirit of suffering and enjoying—from the spirit of pleasure and pain… It is a function of the passive nature.
1866 R. W. Dale Disc. Special Occasions vii. 241 The world hardly knew what music was, till the genius of Handel did homage to the Messiah.
1927 Sunday Express 17 Apr. 4 Channing Pollock believed that in ‘The Fool’ he had written a work of genius.
1959 Life 19 Oct. 108 A modest man, endowed with the humility that often cloaks great genius, Darwin attempted to answer all objections to his theory.
2009 W. Hampton H. Foote 29 Nearly every student in Foote’s class had an idol whose artistic talents were the epitome of genius.
*B.* adj.
colloq. Very clever or ingenious; (more generally) extremely good.
1924 J. R. Fauset There is Confusion xxvii. 229 The Board applauded. ‘Oh, but that’s great, that’s genius,’ cried Miss Phelps.
1941 Sandusky (Ohio) Reg. 9 Mar. 7/4 (advt.) A genius idea—ingredients of fine Face Powder and special Blending Cream combined in Paste Powder.
1989 ‘G. Naylor’ Red Dwarf 204 What a genius idea. Using Nova 5 ‘s hologram unit to generate a duplicate me.
2003 i-D Dec. 110/2, I enjoy what I do so much, I wish I was totally genius at it so I could totally blow people away.
2013 Washington Post (Nexis) 14 Mar. a1 ‘It’s a genius move,’ Marco Politi, a papal biographer and veteran Vatican watcher, said of the selection.
Compounds
*C1.* With the first element in singular form.
† genius-born adj. poet. Obs. rare born with genius (sense A. 7b); produced by genius (sense A. 9).
1767 C. Smart tr. Horace Epistles i. xvii, in tr. Horace Wks. (new ed.) IV. 133 Rare Aristippus, genius born, All lot and station to adorn [L. /Omnis Aristippum decuit color et status et res/].
1894 L. J. Miln Strolling Players East xxi. 194, I represented..the sweet meek maiden who was the genius-born daughter of Shakespeare’s pen.
† genius chamber n. [apparently by association with classical Latin geniālis genial adj.1] Obs. rare a bridal chamber.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid iv. i. 36 War nocht also to me is displesant Genyus chalmer or matrimone to hant [L. /si non pertaesum thalami taedaeque fuisset/].
genius-gifted adj. gifted with natural ability or genius (sense A. 9).
1807 Port Folio (Philadelphia) 7 Nov. 302/2 While, by Fancy’s power refined, Beams the genius gifted mind.
a/1851 M. M. Sherwood /Life (1854) i. 17 My genius-gifted and benevolent father.
1995 F. Dawson Orange in Orange 68 Painting and writing are elements of the life of all people, in our talented, once in a while genius-gifted population.
genius grant n. colloq. (orig. and chiefly U.S.) a fixed-term fellowship (including a financial stipend) of a type awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to individuals of extraordinary talent and creativity in a variety of fields.The first MacArthur Fellows were selected in 1981.
1981 N.Y. Amsterdam News 20 June 30/1 She [/sc./ Elma Lewis] would be recipient of a $54,000 ‘genius’ grant from the John D. and Catherine MacArthur Foundation.
1990 Science 27 July 358/3 Each year, the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation surprises around 30 individuals with 5-year ‘genius’ grants of $150,000 to $375,000.
2002 Village Voice (N.Y.) 8 Jan. 65/2 The era when ‘MacArthur’ meant militarism, not genius grants.
genius school n. /(a)/ a school of thought holding that true or great art derives from the creative power and inspiration associated with genius (see note at sense A. 9) (now rare); /(b)/ colloq. a school for talented or high-achieving children.
1876 Macmillan’s Mag. Oct. 528/2 The point of close resemblance between the genius school in art, and the anti-legal school in morals.
1940 H. T. Lowe-Porter tr. T. Mann Beloved Returns v. 338, I..laughed at the ‘genius’ school and its caricature of originality.
1991 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 16 Feb. 38 Bart cheated his way into Genius School.
2009 G. Fong Accidental Millionaire i. 8 ‘Look at the Genius School dropout!’ ‘Did you flunk out of smarty-pants school?’
*C2.* With the first element in plural form.
genii-haunted n. poet. and literary (now rare) haunted by spirits or genii (sense A. 3).
1785 Gentleman’s Mag. Oct. 820/2 Here the dell Deep-shadow’d, here the Genii-haunted stream.
1817 F. D. Hemans Mod. Greece 7 Where..Tigris rolls his genii-haunted wave.
1901 W. S. Davis God wills It! xxii. 231 Perhaps in Egypt.., in some genii-haunted island of the great river where the cataract foams.
Derivatives
ˈgeniused adj. endowed with natural ability or genius.Freq. contrasted with talented (see note at sense A. 9).
1830 La Belle Assemblée June 253/1 When we say talent/ed/, I humbly propose that we also say geniused, witted, sensed.
1841 New World 27 Nov. 343/2 What would Colonel Maxwell say to our calling him..a geniused man?
1880 S. Lanier Poems (1884) 108 Led by the soaring-genius’d Sylvester.
1959 S. Delaney Taste of Honey i. i. 14 I’m not just talented, I’m geniused.
2003 L. L. Owen Casualty of War v. 110 Grandfather said I was ‘practically geniused’ when it came to drawing.
ˈgeniusess n. now rare a female genius.
1772 T. Nugent tr. J. F. de Isla Hist. Friar Gerund I. 145 She was not a common woman, but a geniusess [Sp. /giganta/] and an elegant writrix.
1902 R. J. Shores Story Willie Complain 5 It was the product of the brain of a geniusess, living in Butte, Montana.
1919 Lyceum Mag. June 29/1 Platform geniuses and geniusesses very closely resemble regular human beings at the start.
† ˈgeniuskin n. Obs. nonce-wd. a little genius or attendant spirit (see sense A. 1a).
1882 H. C. Merivale Faucit of Balliol II. i. xvii. 21 He failed..to catch a single idea out of those words with which my geniuskin of song had inspired me.