Synonyms: ability, capacity, faculty, talent, skill, competence, aptitude

These nouns denote qualities that enable a person to achieve or accomplish something. 

• Ability is the mental or physical power to do something:
  .... "To make a fortune some assistance from fate is essential. Ability alone is insufficient" Ihara Saikaku. 
• Capacity refers to the potential for acquiring that power:
  .... "The capability [women] have shown in the realm of higher education, their achievements in the business world, their capacity for organization . . . have been a revelation" Susan B. Anthony. 
• Faculty denotes an inherent ability:
  ... My lawyer has a faculty for detecting hypocrisy. 
• Talent emphasizes inborn ability, especially in the arts:
  .... "There is no substitute for talent. Industry and all the virtues are of no avail" Aldous Huxley. 
• Skill stresses ability acquired or developed through experience:
  .... "The intellect, character and skill possessed by any man are the product of certain original tendencies and the training which they have received" Edward L. Thorndike. 
• Competence suggests the ability to do something satisfactorily but not necessarily outstandingly:
  .... The violinist played the concerto with unquestioned competence but limited imagination. 
• Aptitude implies inherent capacity for learning, understanding, or performing:
  .... "She handled her brushes with a certain ease and freedom which came, not from long and close acquaintance with them, but from a natural aptitude" Kate Chopin.

... Am Heritage

cf. skill:

1. Proficiency, facility, or dexterity that is acquired or developed through training or experience. 
2. (a). An art, trade, or technique, particularly one requiring use of the hands or body.
   (b). A developed talent or ability: writing skills.

... Am Heritage

cf. skill:

1. [N-COUNT] A skill is a type of work or activity which requires special training and knowledge:  Most of us will know someone who is always learning new skills, or studying new fields. 
2. [N-UNCOUNT] Skill is the knowledge and ability that enables you to do something well:     The cut of a diamond depends on the skill of its craftsman.

... Cobuild