A talent is an ancient unit of mass. The Babylonians and Sumerians had a system in which there were 60 shekels in a mina and 60 minas in a talent. The Roman talent consisted of 100 libra (pounds) which were smaller in magnitude than the mina.

When used as a measure of money, it refers to a talent of gold, and therefore roughly a person's weight in gold.

During the Peloponnesian war in Ancient Greece a talent was the amount of silver needed to pay the crew of a trireme for one month.