different between ingenious vs originality

English

Alternative forms

• engenious (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French ingénieux, from Old French engenious, from Latin ingeni?sus (“endowed with good natural capacity, gifted with genius”), from ingenium (“innate or natural quality, natural capacity, genius”), from in- (“in”) +? gignere (“to produce”), Old Latin genere. See also engine.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?d?i?nj?s/, /?n?d?i?ni?s/
• Rhymes: -i?ni?s
• Hyphenation: in?ge?nious

Adjective

ingenious (comparative more ingenious, superlative most ingenious)

1. (of a person) Displaying genius or brilliance; tending to invent.

2. (of a thing) Characterized by genius; cleverly done or contrived.

3. Witty; original; shrewd; adroit; keen; sagacious.

Usage notes

Do not confuse with ingenuous.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:witty
• See also Thesaurus:intelligent

Related terms

Translations

References

• ingenious in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• ingenious in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

English

Etymology

From French originalité. Surface etymology is original +? -ity.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /????d???næl?ti/

Noun

originality (countable and uncountable, plural originalities)

1. (uncountable) The quality of being original or novel.
2. (uncountable) The capacity to think independently or be inventive.
   • 2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society 2011, p. 132:

     Originality may be the capacity to look at the same facts and see new explanations.

3. (countable) Something original.

Translations

Further reading

• "originality" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 230.