Definitions

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

  • noun The quality of being magnanimous.
  • noun A magnanimous act.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The quality of being magnanimous; greatness of mind or heart; elevation or dignity of soul; the habit of feeling and acting worthily under all circumstances; high-mindedness; intrinsic nobility.
  • noun Synonyms High-mindedness, chivalrousness. See noble.

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

  • noun The quality of being magnanimous; greatness of mind; elevation or dignity of soul; that quality or combination of qualities, in character, which enables one to encounter danger and trouble with tranquility and firmness, to disdain injustice, meanness and revenge, and to act and sacrifice for noble objects.

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

  • noun The quality of being magnanimous; greatness of mind; elevation or dignity of soul.
  • noun That quality or combination of qualities, in character, which enables one to encounter danger and trouble with tranquility and firmness, to disdain injustice, meanness and revenge, and to act and sacrifice for noble objects.

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

  • noun liberality in bestowing gifts; extremely liberal and generous of spirit

Etymologies

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Examples

  • -- This is what you call magnanimity -- It is happy for yourself, that you possess this quality in the highest degree.

    Posthumous Works of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Mary Wollstonecraft 1778

  • Mr. Churchill, whose magnanimity is as great as his power of mischief, half rose to his feet, and murmured, with a bow of his head, "If I am not unworthy, Sir."

    What Is The British Point of View 1939

  • Tish it was, however, who, not to be outdone in magnanimity, permitted them to go, one by one, to the stream to wash.

    Tish 1916

  • This treating of injuries from the high ground of magnanimity is the action that shall save the world.

    Julia Ward Howe, 1819-1910 Maud Howe Elliott 1915

  • There was a certain magnanimity, he recognized, in Gay's effort to put things right even while he must have preferred in his heart to have them remain in the wrong.

    The Miller of Old Church 1911

  • "Surely I do not wish to stand beneath Helga in magnanimity!"

    The Girl from the Marsh Croft 1910

  • Even Napoleon's father-in-law, the Emperor of Austria, who had given his daughter in marriage to the arbiter of Europe, did not deign to reply, though only a brief time before he had received many tokens of magnanimity from the French Emperor.

    The Tragedy of St. Helena Walter Runciman 1892

  • These principles, bravest of men, might have suited the simple ages of Greece and Rome; a Phocion or a Fabricius might have uttered the like, and compelled the homage of their enemies; but in these days, such magnanimity is considered frenzy, and ruin is its consequence.

    The Scottish Chiefs 1875

  • The Christian woman who can reflect upon a laborious life of domestic duty, looks back upon a scene of true virtue; and if, in order to perform the whole of her allotted task, she was obliged to repress a taste for pursuits more intellectual, the character of magnanimity is inscribed upon her conduct, however retired, or in human estimation insignificant, may have been the daily exercises to which she was appointed.

    Autobiography and Other Memorials of Mrs. Gilbert, Formerly Ann Taylor 1874

  • Caroline heard it she could not help smiling at the word magnanimity, which sounded to her rather too grand for the occasion.

    Tales and Novels — Volume 07 Maria Edgeworth 1808

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