Defn: The quality or state of being ingenious; ingenuity.
INGENITE; INGENIT In*gen"ite In*gen"it, a. Etym: [L. ingenitus, p. p. of ingignere to instill by birthor nature; pref. in- + gignere to beget.]
Defn: Innate; inborn; inbred; inherent; native; ingenerate. [Obs.] It is naturalor ingenite, which comes by some defect of the organs and overmuch brain. Burton.
INGENUE In`gé`nue" (aN`zhay`nus"), n.; pl. -nues (#). [F., fem. of ingénu ingenious.]
Defn: An ingenuous or naïve girl or young woman, or an actress representing such a person.
INGENUITY In`ge*nu"i*ty, n. Etym: [L. ingenuitas ingenuousness: cf. F. ingénuité. 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 heat; ingeniuousness. [Obs.] The stings and remores 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. — 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.