liberality

English

Etymology

From Middle English liberalite, from Old French liberalité, from Latin līberālitās (“a noble, kind, or friendly disposition; generosity”), equivalent to liberal +‎ -ity.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˌlɪbəˈɹælɪti/
Audio (US) (file)

Noun

liberality (usually uncountable, plural liberalities)

The property of being liberal; generosity; charity.
- 1668, John Denham, Of Justice (poem)
  That liberality is but cast away / Which makes us borrow what we cannot pay.
- 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter II, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, OCLC 1000392275, page 20:
  She preferred that Lord Rotheles's liberality should take a purely personal direction. Whatever decorations might be lavished upon her dressing-room, the dowager would have to leave them behind her; not so those which filled the prodigality of red morocco cases on her toilette.
A gift; a gratuity.
A prudent man is not impoverished by his liberalities.
Candor.
Impartiality.