aptitude
(ˈæptɪtjuːd)
[a. F. aptitude (16th c. in Littré), ad. med.L. aptitūdo, n. of quality f. L. aptus: see apt a. and -tude. Cf. also attitude.]
1. The quality of being fit for a purpose or position, or suited to general requirements; fitness, suitableness, appropriateness.
| 1643 Milton Divorce i. iv. (1847) 128/2 That sociable and helpful aptitude..between man and woman. 1654 Warren Unbelievers 62 They lose their aptitude for heaven. 1749 Power Pros. Numb. 19 For the Sake of Aptitude of Expression. 1809 N. Pinkney Trav. France 144 Its aptitude for the residence of a foreigner. 1851 Helps Comp. Solitude xi. (1874) 188 In any comparison so frequently used there must be some aptitude. |
2. Natural tendency, propensity, or disposition.
| 1633 Earl of Manchester Al Mondo (1636) 90 Nor hath [the bodie] aptitude in it selfe to reanimation. a 1704 Locke (J.) He that is about children should study their nature and aptitudes. 1859 Owen Class. Mamm. 34 The aptitude of the Cheiroptera..to fall like Reptiles into a state of true torpidity. |
3. a. Natural capacity, endowment, or ability; talent for any pursuit.
| 1789–96 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 257 A remarkable aptitude for mechanical inventions. 1855 Bain Senses & Intell. ii. i. §23 Our estimate of time is one of the earliest of our mental aptitudes. 1879 Calderwood Mind & Br. ix. 263 There is a physical acquisition, resulting in physical aptitudes. |
b. transf. of countries: Capability, qualification.
| 1775 Burke Concil. Amer. Wks. III. 123 If ever there was a country qualified to produce wealth, it is India..America has none of these aptitudes. 1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 47 The colonising and commercial aptitudes of Tyre. |
c. esp. Natural capacity to learn or understand; intelligence, quick-wittedness, readiness.
| 1548 Udall Erasm. Par. Pref. 14 Thy state of knowledge and aptitude or capacitie. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. xxv. 205 The general idea..he had acquired with great aptitude. |
4. Comb., as aptitude test orig. U.S., a test designed to determine a person's capacity in any given skill or field of knowledge.
| 1923 Amer. Inst. Criminal Law Jrnl. XIV. 376 An aptitude test for policemen. 1926 Sci. Amer. Feb. 93/3 The aptitude test simply consists in making telegraph signals..and then testing the memory of the men. 1952 M. McCarthy Groves of Academe (1953) iv. 53 By the use of aptitude tests, psychological questionnaires, even blood-sampling and cranial measurements, he hoped to discover a method of gauging student-potential. |