ingenuity
noun/ˌɪnd͡ʒəˈn(j)uːəti/
Etymology From Latin ingenuitās.
1
Usually The ability to solve difficult problems in original, clever, and inventive ways; ingeniousness.
- The pyramids demonstrate the ingenuity of the ancient Egyptians.
- Poverty is the mother of ingenuity.
3 more examples
- Ingenuity is one of the characteristics of a beaver.
- Half the ingenuity lavished on news—by news we mean the topics of the day as connected with their own circle—half this ingenuity would set up a whole Society of Antiquaries, and immortalise at least a dozen of them.1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 189:
- The heavy freight traffic which shares the double line between Paddington and Wolverhampton with the passenger traffic has taxed the ingenuity of the timetable planners.1960 February, R. C. Riley, “The London-Birmingham services - Past, Present and Future”, in Trains Illustrated, page 103:
2
Usually An ingenuous action or thought.
- Virility is sustained, preserved, even recaptured, by man's ingenuities, by exotic foods and drinks, by rare herbal compounds, by fantastical manipulations, goetic periapts.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page iii:
3
Archaic, Usually Ingenuousness; honesty, straightforwardness
- And therefore I apply my selfe to ingenuitie, and ever to speake truth and what I think[…].1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 17, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
- Derived terms
- disingenuity, hyperingenuity, ingenuitive, overingenuity, superingenuity, Yankee ingenuity
- Related terms
- ingenious, ingenuous, industriousness