magnanimous

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin magnanimus (“great-souled, high-minded”) with -ous,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} and the Latin adjective is a compound of magnus (“great”) and animus (“mind, soul, spirit”).^[2][7][8][5] Etymonline and Barnhart also allow a formation from magnanimity with the suffix,^[8][9] though Barnhart thinks the borrowing from Latin more likely, and probably prompted by the older noun.^[9] The Latin word was modelled on Ancient Greek μεγάθυμος (megáthymos, “great-hearted”) and μεγαλόψυχος (megalópsychos, “high-souled, generous”), and it rendered them in translations of Aristotle.^[2][9] An earlier adjective magnanime is also recorded in English.^[2] The first element goes back to Proto-Indo-European *meg- (“great”), which also gave much and mega-.^[8][7][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Generous in feeling or conduct; great or noble in spirit: 1547, in John Wilkinson's translation of Aristotle's Ethics.^[2][11] Barnhart (1584) and Etymonline (the 1580s) date the word later, from the sense of courage.^[9][12][8]

Semantic evolution

The word began in moral philosophy, as the English for Aristotle's quality of greatness of soul.^[2] From 1584, in Whetstone, it also meant great in courage, nobly brave or valiant, a sense the OED records until 1858 and now marks obsolete.^[2][8][3] Johnson (1755) still defined it as "great of mind; elevated in sentiment; brave", with quotations from Milton.^[13] The sense "above petty resentment or jealousy" has since become the main one, as with magnanimity,^{[2][3][11][8]} and the older sense of nobly ambitious is now archaic.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1547 – generous in feeling or conduct; great or noble in spirit.^[2][11]
• 1584 – great in courage, nobly valiant (obsolete after 1858).^[2][9]
• early 17th century – the derivatives magnanimously and magnanimousness.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Generous and forgiving, above petty resentment or jealousy, especially toward a rival or a defeated enemy: She was magnanimous in victory and praised her opponent's game.^[11][14][2]
2. Great or noble in spirit or purpose (archaic).^[2][3]
3. Great in courage; nobly valiant (obsolete, 1584–1858).^[2][3][13]

Word family

• magnanimously
• magnanimousness
• unmagnanimous

Related words

• magnanimity
• magnitude
• animus
• animal
• much

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
10. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
11. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
13. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins