generosity
nounUK /ˌd͡ʒɛn.əˈɹɒs.ɪ.ti/ · US /ˌd͡ʒɛn.əˈɹɑ.sə.ti/
Etymology From Middle English generosite, from Latin generōsitās, equivalent to generous + -ity.
1
The trait of being willing to donate money, resources, or time.
- We have mentioned generosity as an outstanding virtue required in Sioux life.1963, Erik H. Erikson, Childhood and Society:
- 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.2013 June 7, Jonathan Freedland, “Obama is like Apple, Google and Facebook: a once hip brand tainted by Prism”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, archived from the original on 13 Mar 2022, page 18:
2
A desire to give or share without expecting payment; charity; an eager willingness to demonstrate openness and empathy or to provide a charitable outlook on something; a desire to share either emotionally or in resources, time, etc.
3
A generous act.
- May the generosities of the founders of these halls, be rewarded by the fair and holy characters which shall be here formed[…].1873, Reverend M. C. Tyler, Proceedings at the Laying of the Corner Stone of the Sage College of the Cornell University:
4
The trait of being abundant, more than adequate.
- He ate everything, despite the generosity of the portions.
5
Archaic Good breeding; nobility of stock.
- Derived terms
- capernosity, overgenerosity, supergenerosity, ungenerosity