creativityn.
/ˌkriːeɪˈtɪvᵻti/, /ˌkriːəˈtɪvᵻti/, U.S. /ˌkrieɪˈtɪvᵻdi/, /ˌkriəˈtɪvᵻdi/ The faculty of being creative; ability or power to create.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > inventive or creative faculty > [noun]
invention?a1505
imagination1509
wit-craft1573
inventa1605
contrivance1659
creativity1659
inventibility1662
inventiveness1668
originality1742
creativeness1805
constructiveness1815
construction1826
imagineering1942
1659 G. Lawson Theo-politica i. viii. 39 In Creation, we have God and his Creativity (as Occam and Bacon expresse it) and the thing created.
1875 A. W. Ward Hist. Eng. Dramatic Lit. I. 506 The spontaneous flow of his [sc. Shakespeare's] poetic creativity.
1926 A. N. Whitehead Relig. in Making iii. 90 The creativity whereby the actual world has its character of temporal passage to novelty.
1926 A. N. Whitehead Relig. in Making iii. 152 Unlimited possibility and abstract creativity can procure nothing.
1959 Radio Times 23 Jan. 3/1 He [sc. Burns] was a man of overflowing creativity—in so far as the phrase applies to his poetry.
1986 Professional Photogr. Oct. 42/2 Creativity wasn't mentioned—in fact it was discouraged because of the over-indulgent ideas of some of the students.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1659