Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Liberality in giving or willingness to give.
  • noun Kindness or magnanimity.
  • noun Amplitude; abundance.
  • noun A generous act.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Nobility; the order of nobles.
  • noun The quality of being generous; magnanimity; liberality of sentiment and action; more specifically, a disposition to give liberally or to bestow favors; a quality of the heart or mind opposed to meanness or parsimony.
  • noun Liberality in act; munificence: as, the object of one's generosity.
  • noun A generous act.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete Noble birth.
  • noun The quality of being noble; noble-mindedness.
  • noun Liberality in giving; munificence.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable the trait of being willing to donate money and/or time
  • noun uncountable acting generously
  • noun uncountable the trait of being more than adequate
  • noun literally (uncountable) good breeding; nobility of stock
  • noun countable a generous act

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun acting generously
  • noun the trait of being willing to give your money or time

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English generosite, from Old French, from Latin generōsitās, from generōsus, generous; see generous.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

generous +‎ -ity

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Examples

  • The OED says that generosity comes from the Latin word genus which means kind, as in ilk not nicety.

    The Generosity Plan 2010

  • The OED says that generosity comes from the Latin word genus which means kind, as in ilk not nicety.

    Dr. Susan Corso: The Generosity Plan 2010

  • And I have plenty of company; Bob lets several of his close friends hunt there, and his generosity is appreciated by us all.

    For Which We Give Thanks 2007

  • The affection which I have for you, which you call generosity, gives me no such claim, and it gives me no desire to tear open those wounds which your poor heart must feel so keenly.

    The Cryptogram A Novel James De Mille

  • She seemed much moved by what she called my generosity: she consented; we were married.

    The Parisians — Volume 06 Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton 1838

  • She seemed much moved by what she called my generosity: she consented; we were married.

    The Parisians — Complete Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton 1838

  • You did not conceal from me that I was not sufficient to constitute all your world: you threw yourself, as you had done once before, upon what you called my generosity: you did not deceive yourself then; you have not deceived yourself now.

    Falkland, Complete Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton 1838

  • "The conference officials found out that nearby school kids had nothing for Christmas, so they organized Christmas parties for them and sent in presents," said Arndt. That kind of generosity is flowing in from churches around the country.

    Hurricane Katrina 2007

  • But, as we have pointed out, here and here, the current wave of migration to the Canaries, which has triggered this sudden "generosity", is entirely due to the effect of the predatory third country fishing agreements, which are depriving Africans of their livelihoods.

    Stop stealing their fish Richard 2006

  • Medicaid allows for significant state-to-state variation in generosity and coverage levels.

    Matthew Yglesias » Leave Health Care to the States? 2010

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