genius

Etymology

From Latin genius (“inborn nature; a tutelary deity of a person or place; wit, brilliance”), from gignō (“to beget, produce”), Old Latin genō, from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵenh₁-. Doublet of genio. See also genus.

noun

1. (countable) Someone possessing extraordinary intelligence or skill; especially somebody who has demonstrated this by a creative or original work in science, music, art etc.
   Coordinate term: idiot savant
2. (uncountable) Extraordinary mental capacity.
   Excuse, therefore, the shortcomings of genius under the sudorific influence of the summer solstice; for be assured that the vertical sun, however it may dulcify and mature cherries, plums, and other fruitful ‘plumpitudes,’ is by no means favorable to the development of intellectual products. 1853, Whirligig, quotee, edited by William Kidd, Kidd’s Own Journal; for Inter-Communications on Natural History, Popular Science, and Things in General, volume IV, number 8, London: William Spooner,[…]; Richard Groombridge and Sons,[…], page 124, column 2
3. (uncountable) Inspiration, a mental leap, an extraordinary creative process.
   a work of genius
   to add a dash of cinnamon amid such umami was pure genius
4. (countable, Roman mythology, also figurative) The tutelary deity or spirit of a place or person.
   and the genius of the place: the growing enthusiasm for codified standards in the Army and Navy
   We talk of genius still, but with thought how changed! The genius of Augustus was a tutelary demon, to be sworn by and to receive offerings on an altar as a deity. 1715, Edward Burnett Tylor, Primitive Culture
   An old sinner, in shape of a khansamah, is the genius of the place, and has rarely aught else to tempt the tired traveller with than a “sudden death”—a fowl caught running in the yard, and dished up forthwith; […] 1866, Frederick F. Wyman, From Calcutta to the Snowy Range, page 330

adj

1. (informal) Ingenious, brilliant, very clever, or original.
   What a genius idea!
   Bjarte Birkeland asserts that the reason why Nynorsk writers of fiction have succeeded in coming so close to naked life is not that they are more genius than authors writing in Bokmal, but that they are using their mother tongue 2002, Oskar Bandle, Lennart Elmevik, Gun Widmark, The Nordic Languages: An International Handbook of the North Germanic Languages, volume 1, page 466
   We all know how genius “Kamp Krusty,” “A Streetcar Named Marge,” “Homer The Heretic,” “Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie” and “Mr. Plow” are, but even the relatively unheralded episodes offer wall-to-wall laughs and some of the smartest, darkest, and weirdest gags ever Trojan-horsed into a network cartoon with a massive family audience. May 20, 2012, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Marge Gets A Job” (season 4, episode 7; originally aired 11/05/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club
   But Vahul was more genius than Rishi. 2019, Iswarya Somasundaram, Research the Treasure, page 64
   She said the writing for these products “is very genius” because it's carefully done. August 2, 2022, Wanda Sutherland, “Dangers of vaping: Teen use of e-cigarettes considered epidemic”, in Elk Valley Times