generoso

Forms

generoso (feminine generosa, masculine plural generosi, feminine plural generose, superlative generosissimo)^[1]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Latin generōsus (“of noble birth; magnanimous”),^[2][3][4][1] from genus (“birth, stock, race”) and the suffix -ōsus.^[1][5][3] The Latin adjective first meant “noble by birth”, and then noble in spirit; its derivative generōsitās went the same way.^[2][3] Devoto compares di razza, “of (good) breed”, in which “good” is understood, as it was in the Latin word.^[6][7]

Pliny and Columella already used the Latin word for strong wine and productive plants, and the sense “liberal, open-handed” was implicit in Latin.^[8] The same word is French généreux, first recorded in the 14th century, and Spanish generoso.^[3][8] From French it passed to the English word generous.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the phrase terra generosa, “fertile land”, before 1292 in Giamboni.^[2][7] The TLIO's first record is the Florentine vernacular translation of the Tesoro, at the end of the 13th century; its senses are “noble-minded and ready to act and give without calculation”, “fertile” (of land) and “abundant”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Boccaccio, between 1348 and 1353, uses the word both for greatness of soul and, in the literary sense, for nobility of birth and feeling.^[2] In the Decameron prison has wasted Giannotto's flesh, but not il generoso animo dalla sua origine tratto (“the noble spirit drawn from his birth”).^[10] The sense “liberal, free in giving” appears in Bandello in 1554, and partito generoso, “advantageous offer”, in 1545.^[2] The noun, a person of noble and great spirit, is recorded before 1699.^[2]

Later senses describe quantity: “abundant, rich” is in Tommaseo–Bellini in 1869, and figurative “ample” in C. Cattaneo in 1844.^[2] Sport adopted the word in the 20th century for an athlete who competes with stubborn effort (1959).^[2] Foscolo's line a' generosi / giusta di glorie dispensiera è morte (“to the generous, death is a just dispenser of glory”) is the classic example of the noun.^[4][7]

Timeline

• Before 1292 – Giamboni uses terra generosa for fertile land.^[2]
• End of the 13th century – The Florentine Tesoro translation has the adjective.^[9]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses it for greatness of soul and nobility of birth.^[2]
• c. 1350 – Generosità is used of plants in the translation of Crescenzi.^[2]
• 1554 – Bandello uses it for a liberal, open-handed queen.^[2]
• Before 1699 – The noun, a magnanimous person, appears.^[2]
• 1844 – C. Cattaneo uses it figuratively for “ample”.^[2]
• 1959 – It is used of an athlete who competes with stubborn effort.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. generous, liberal: free in giving or rewarding: Il nonno è sempre generoso con i nipoti.^[4][11][7]
2. Of a gift or payment: given lavishly, large.^[4][11][12]
3. Noble-minded, magnanimous, acting with courage and without self-interest; ready to forgive.^[4][11][12]
4. (sport) Of an athlete or horse: giving all its strength in a race.^[4][11][7]
5. Ample, abundant, of a portion or a neckline.^[4][11][7]
6. Of wine, full-bodied, strong and of good quality, and of soil, fertile.^[4][11][13]
7. (literary) Of noble birth; of good breed.^[4][11][14]

Noun

1. (literary) A magnanimous person.^[11][7]
2. A person who is free in giving: fare il generoso, to show off a liberality one does not usually have.^[11][14][13]

Word family

• generosità
• ingeneroso
• generosamente

Related words

• genere
• French généreux
• Latin generōsus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1783
9. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
10. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 6, 660
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
14. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)