资优 （Gifted）是指先天性的、异于平常的智能。这种趋势从出生开始在其整个生涯内均有体现。而这种趋势并非指世间一般所谓的对外的成功，而是指其内在的「掌握学习方法的天分」和「与生俱来拥有的学习能力」。资优儿童的成长是异步的，他们的心智的成长速度总比身体的快。在发展的不同阶段，特定的认知及情感功能偶尔会有不同的发展（或是有不同程度的差异）。

才干（talented）一字多与资优（gifted）共同出现，例如资优．才干教育（GATE, Gifted and Talented Education） 等。资优是指全面性、学术性的才能，才干乃指拥有艺术方面的才能。

Intellectual giftedness is an intellectual ability significantly higher than average. It is a characteristic of children, variously defined, that motivates differences in school programming. It is thought to persist as a trait into adult life, with various consequences studied in longitudinal studies of giftedness over the last century. There is no generally agreed definition of giftedness for either children or adults, but most school placement decisions and most longitudinal studies over the course of individual lives have been based on IQ in the top 2 percent of the population, that is above IQ 130.