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ty for a particular purpose, or tendency to a particular action or effect; as, oil has an aptitude to burn. He seems to have had a peculiar aptitude for the management of irregular troops. Macaulay.

Want of aptitude.

according to specific signification or qualities; to specificate; to desynonymize. [R.] Inaptitude and ineptitude have been usefully despecificated. Fitzed. Hall.

Aptitude for teaching. Hare.

ar structure of mind with whoch each individual is endowed by nature; that disposition or aptitude of mind which is peculiar to each man, and which qualifies him for certain kinds of action or special success in any pursuit; special taste, inclination, or disposition; as, a genius for history, for poetry, or painting.…

Some quality or endowment given to man by God; a preëminent and special talent or aptitude; power; faculty; as, the gift of wit; a gift for speaking.

The art of judging of a person's character, disposition, and aptitude from his handwriting.

Ability; aptitude. [Obs.] Robynson. (More's Utopia).

inary course of conduct; practice; usage; hence, prominently, the involuntary tendency or aptitude to perform certain actions which is acquired by their frequent repetition; as, habit is second nature; also, peculiar ways of acting; characteristic forms of behavior. A man of very shy, retired habits. W. Irving.…

The quality of being inept; unfitness; inaptitude; unsuitableness. That ineptitude for society, which is frequently the fault of us scholars. Tatler.

Possessed of genius, or the faculty of invention; skillful or promp to invent; having an aptitude to contrive, or to form new combinations; as, an ingenious author, mechanic. A man . . . very wise and ingenious in feats of war. Hakluyt. Thou, king, send out For torturers ingenious. Shak. The more ingenious men are, the…

A natural aptitude or knack; a predilection; as, an instinct for order; to be modest by instinct.

ted on the theory that education should be begun by gratifying and cultivating the normal aptitude for exercise, play, observation, imitation, and construction; -- a name given by Friedrich Froebel, a German educator, who introduced this method of training, in rooms opening on a garden.

Interested in, and having an aptitude for, many unlike pursuits or objects of attention; versatile. -- Ma"ny-sid`ed*ness, n.

Readiness; facility; aptitude. He had such a dexterous proclivity as his teachers were fain to restrain his forwardness. Sir H. Wotton.

The state or quality of being ready; preparation; promptness; aptitude; willingness. They received the word with all readiness of mind. Acts xvii. 11.

ical purposes; power to discern and execute; ability to perceive and perform; expertness; aptitude; as, the skill of a mathematician, physician, surgeon, mechanic, etc. Phocion, . . . by his great wisdom and skill at negotiations, diverted Alexander from the conquest of Athens. Swift. Where patience her sweet skill imp…