When Oscar Wilde reputedly told a US customs official that he had nothing to declare but his genius, he was, it is assumed, joking.

But genius has become a term used in everyday life to describe everything from hot-housed children to footballers, pop stars and celebrity chefs.

Now a panel of judges in the Court of Appeal is to be asked to grapple with the meaning of the word in the case of a multimillionaire husband seeking a bigger slice of the wealth he once shared with his wife in a divorce settlement.