English edit

Etymology edit

From Middle English generosite, from Latin generōsitas.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

generosity (countable and uncountable, plural generosities)

  1. (uncountable) The trait of being willing to donate money, resources, or time.
    Synonyms: largesse, liberality
    Antonym: stinginess
    • 1963, Erik H. Erikson, Childhood and Society:
      We have mentioned generosity as an outstanding virtue required in Sioux life.
    • 2013 June 14, Jonathan Freedland, “Obama's once hip brand is now tainted”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 18:
      Now we are liberal with our innermost secrets, spraying them into the public ether with a generosity our forebears could not have imagined. Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet.
  2. (countable) A generous act.
    • 1873, Reverend M. C. Tyler, Proceedings at the Laying of the Corner Stone of the Sage College of the Cornell University:
      May the generosities of the founders of these halls, be rewarded by the fair and holy characters which shall be here formed [] .
  3. (uncountable) The trait of being abundant, more than adequate.
  4. (archaic, uncountable) Good breeding; nobility of stock.
    Synonym: nobility

Translations edit

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