generosity

generosity

English

Etymology

From Middle English generosite, from Latin generōsitas.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌd͡ʒɛnəˈɹɑsəti/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌd͡ʒɛnəˈɹɒsɪti/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒsɪti
• Hyphenation: ge‧ne‧ros‧i‧ty

Noun

generosity (countable and uncountable, plural generosities)

1. (uncountable) The trait of being willing to donate money, time or resources.
   • 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.

Synonyms

• liberality
• (good breeding, noble stock): nobility

Antonyms

• stinginess

Translations

the trait of being willing to donate

Arabic: كَرَم‎ (ar) m (karam), سَخَاء‎ m (saḵāʾ) Egyptian Arabic: كرم‎ m (karam) Aromanian: bunãtati f Belarusian: шчо́драсць f (ščódrascʹ) Bulgarian: ще́дрост (bg) f (štédrost) Catalan: generositat (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 慷慨 (zh) (kāngkǎi), 寬厚 (zh), 宽厚 (zh) (kuānhòu), 大方 (zh) (dàfang) Czech: štědrost f Danish: generøsitet c, storsind n, storladenhed c Dutch: gulheid (nl), vrijgevigheid (nl) f, genereusheid Esperanto: malavaro, grandanimeco Finnish: anteliaisuus (fi), avokätisyys (fi) French: générosité (fr) f, bonté (fr) f Galician: xenerosidade (gl) f Georgian: სულგრძელობა (sulgrʒeloba), დიდსულოვნება (didsulovneba), გულუხვობა (guluxvoba), ხელგაშიშლობა (xelgašišloba) German: Großzügigkeit (de) f, Generosität (de) f, Großmut (de) m Greek: γενναιοδωρία (el) f (gennaiodoría) Hungarian: nagylelkűség (hu), bőkezűség (hu) Irish: mórchroí m, móraigeantacht f, gart m (literary) Italian: generosità (it) f, bontà (it) f, abnegazione (it) f, magnanimità (it) f Japanese: 気前 (きまえ, kimae), 気前のよさ (きまえのよさ, kimae no yosa), 寛大さ (ja) (かんだいさ, kandai-sa) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: بھخشندھگی‎ (bihxişindihgî) Latin: largitās f Occitan: generositat (oc) f Old Occitan: largetat Polish: hojność (pl) f, szczodrość (pl) f Portuguese: generosidade (pt) f Romanian: generozitate (ro) f, bunătate (ro) Russian: ще́дрость (ru) f (ščédrostʹ), великоду́шие (ru) n (velikodúšije) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: велико̀душно̄ст f, дарѐжљиво̄ст Roman: velikòdušnōst (sh) f, darèžljivōst (sh) Slovak: štedrosť f Spanish: generosidad (es) f Swahili: ukarimu (sw) Swedish: generositet (sv) c Telugu: సద్వినియోగము (te) (sadviniyōgamu) Turkish: âlicenaplık (tr), cömertlik (tr) Ukrainian: ще́дрість f (ščédristʹ)

acting generously

Bulgarian: великодушност f (velikodušnost) Dutch: gulheid (nl) Finnish: anteliaisuus (fi) French: générosité (fr) f Georgian: სულგრძელობა (sulgrʒeloba), დიდსულოვნება (didsulovneba), გულუხვობა (guluxvoba), ხელგაშიშლობა (xelgašišloba) German: Großzügigkeit (de) f, Freizügigkeit (de) f Hungarian: bőkezűség (hu) Italian: generosità (it) f Korean: 선심(善心) (ko) (seonsim) Maori: manaakitanga (mi) Romanian: generozitate (ro) f Russian: ще́дрость (ru) f (ščédrostʹ) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: велико̀душно̄ст f Roman: velikòdušnōst (sh) f Turkish: âlicenaplık (tr), cömertlik (tr) Ukrainian: ще́дрість f (ščédristʹ)

the trait of being more than adequate

Bulgarian: изобилие (bg) n (izobilie) Dutch: grootmoedigheid (nl) Finnish: yltäkylläisyys (fi) Georgian: სიუხვე (siuxve) German: Großmut (de) m Hungarian: bőség (hu) Italian: abbondanza (it) f, magnanimità (it) f Romanian: abundență (ro) f Turkish: âlicenaplık (tr), bağışlayıcılık (tr), cömertlik (tr)

good breeding; nobility of stock

Bulgarian: благородство (bg) n (blagorodstvo) Dutch: edelmoed Finnish: aatelisuus (fi) French: générosité (fr) f Georgian: კეთილშობილება (ḳetilšobileba) German: Edelmut (de) m Hungarian: nemesség (hu) Italian: nobiltà d'animo f Romanian: noblețe (ro) f Spanish: generosidad (es) f (rare) Turkish: cömertlik (tr)

a generous act

Catalan: generositat (ca) f Dutch: gulheid (nl) Finnish: anteliaisuus (fi) French: générosité (fr) f Georgian: სულგრძელობა (sulgrʒeloba), დიდსულოვნება (didsulovneba), გულუხვობა (guluxvoba) German: Edelmut (de) m, Großzügigkeit (de) f Italian: atto (it) di (it) generosità (it) f, atto (it) generoso (it) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: بھخشندھ‎ (bihxişindih) Portuguese: generosidade (pt) f Romanian: generozitate (ro) f Russian: ще́дрость (ru) f (ščédrostʹ) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: велико̀душно̄ст f Roman: velikòdušnōst (sh) f Turkish: âlicenaplık (tr), bağışlayıcılık (tr), cömertlik (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Hebrew: (please verify) נדיבות‎ (he) Korean: (please verify) 관대 (ko) (gwandae) Latin: (please verify) generōsitas Mandarin: (please verify) 宽厚 (zh) (kuānhòu) Spanish: (please verify) generosidad (es)