generosity

From Middle English generosite, from Latin generōsitas.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌd͡ʒɛnəˈɹɒsɪti/

• Audio (Southern England)

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• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌd͡ʒɛnəˈɹɑsəti/
• Hyphenation: ge‧ne‧ros‧i‧ty
• Rhymes: -ɒsɪti

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