Wiktionary

munificence

English edit

WOTD – 16 September 2013

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /mjuːˈnɪfɪsəns/
    • Audio (Southern England)(file)

Etymology 1 edit

From Middle French munificence, from Latin munificentia, from munus (“gift”) + facio (“I make”).

Noun edit

munificence (usually uncountable, plural munificences)

  1. The quality of being munificent; generosity.
    • 1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson et al., page 3:
      Now the happy king laid the forehead of thankſgiving upon the duſt of gratitude; he opened the doors of his wealth to the four winds, and enriched the world, at once, with his munificence.
    • 1845, Lydia Sigourney, Scenes in my Native Land, The Great Oak of Geneseo, pages 86–87:
      And surely, no form of munificence should entitle to a more grateful and lasting remembrance, than that which promotes the right education of youth;...
Related terms edit
Translations edit

Etymology 2 edit

Compare Latin munire (“to fortify”).

Noun edit

munificence

  1. (obsolete) Means of defence; fortification.

French edit

Etymology edit

Learned borrowing from Latin munificentia (“generosity”), from munus (“gift”).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

munificence f (plural munificences)

  1. generosity, munificence, liberality
    Synonym: largesse
    • 1844, Honoré de Balzac, Modeste Mignon:
      Ce naïf soldat, [...] se crut l’homme le plus heureux du monde, en se voyant propriétaire d’une maison que la munificence de son chef garnit d’un joli mobilier [...]
      The naive soldier, […] thought himself the luckiest man in the world when he found himself the owner of a house which, thanks to his superior's munificence, was fitted out with some very nice furniture […]

Derived terms edit

Further reading edit

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