generositas

Forms

generōsitās f (genitive generōsitātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin generōsus (“of noble birth, generous”) + -tās.^[2][1] The adjective comes from genus (“birth, race, kind”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler and the OLD first record it in Pliny the Elder, who uses it of the good breed of bulls and sheep.^[2][4][3]

Semantic evolution

In the 1st century AD it meant good breeding, excellence of stock, both of people and animals and of plants and produce: Columella praises vines for the excellence of their wine.^[2][4] Pliny also uses it of the high spirit of the lion,^[4] and the Vulgate has it in the Book of Wisdom.^[4]

In Medieval Latin it meant birth or inherited personal status, prestige or influence, and lineage;^[5] British sources use it as a form of address and for the nobility as a body,^[6] and Alcuin writes that to be a son of God is great nobility.^[6] Ecclesiastical Latin also has the sense “generosity, goodness”.^[7] English generosity comes from it in the early 15th century, first meaning “nobility of race”; the sense “munificence” is recorded from the 1670s.^[8]

Timeline

• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of the noble breed of bulls and sheep.^[2][4][3]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses it of the excellence of vines and wine.^[2][3]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it in the Book of Wisdom.^[4][3]
• c. 790 – Alcuin writes that it is great nobility to be a son of God.^[6]
• early 15th century – Borrowed into English as generosity, “nobility of race”.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. Good breeding, nobility or excellence of stock, of people and animals.^[2][4]
2. Excellence, high quality, of plants and produce.^[2][6]
3. High spirit, boldness.^[4]
4. (Medieval Latin) Birth, hereditary status; lineage.^[5][6]
5. (Medieval Latin) Prestige, influence;^[5][6] (collectively) the nobility; also a form of address.^[5][6]
6. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Generosity, goodness.^[7][6]

Related words

• English generosity

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com