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ingenuity

Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Ingenuity \In`ge*nu"i*ty\, n. [L. ingenuitas ingenuousness: cf.
   F. ing['e]nuit['e]. See {Ingenuous}.]
   1. The quality or power of ready invention; quickness or
      acuteness in forming new combinations; ingeniousness;
      skill in devising or combining.

            All the means which human ingenuity has contrived.
                                                  --Blair.

   2. Curiousness, or cleverness in design or contrivance; as,
      the ingenuity of a plan, or of mechanism.

            He gives . . . To artist ingenuity and skill.
                                                  --Cowper.

   3. Openness of heart; ingenuousness. [Obs.]

            The stings and remorses of natural ingenuity, a
            principle that men scarcely ever shake off, as long
            as they carry anything of human nature about them.
                                                  --South.

   Syn: Inventiveness; ingeniousness; skill; cunning;
        cleverness; genius.

   Usage: {Ingenuity}, {Cleverness}. Ingenuity is a form of
          genius, and cleverness of talent. The former implies
          invention, the letter a peculiar dexterity and
          readiness of execution. Sir James Mackintosh remarks
          that the English overdo in the use of the word clever
          and cleverness, applying them loosely to almost every
          form of intellectual ability.

Source : WordNet®

ingenuity
     n 1: the power of creative imagination [syn: {inventiveness}, {ingeniousness},
           {cleverness}]
     2: the property of being ingenious; "a plot of great
        ingenuity"; "the cleverness of its design" [syn: {ingeniousness},
         {cleverness}]
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