INGE'NIOUS, adjective [Latin ingeniosus, from ingenium; in and genius, geno, gigno, to beget. 1. Possessed of genius, or the faculty of invention; hence, skillful or prompt to invent; having an aptitude to contrive, or to form new combinations of ideas; as an ingenious author; an ingenious mechanic. The more ingenious men are, the more apt are they to trouble themselves. 2. Proceeding from genius or ingenuity; of curious design, structure or mechanism; as an ingenious performance of any kind; an ingenious scheme or plan; an ingenious model or machine; ingenious fabric; ingenious contrivance. 3. Witty; well formed; well adapted; as an ingenious reply. 4. Mental; intellectual. [Not used.]
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI