The quality or state of being creative; the ability to produce original and imaginative ideas.
From 'creative' (Latin creativus, from creare 'to make') plus '-ness' (Germanic -nis, forming abstract nouns). The adjective 'creative' itself only became common in the 18th century.
Until the 1800s, people rarely used 'creative' as praise—it was sometimes an insult implying you were making things up or lying! The word's transformation into positive reflects how we started valuing originality over authority.
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