generosus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ɡɛ.nɛˈroː.sʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [d͡ʒe.neˈrɔː.s̬us]^[1]

Forms

generōsus (feminine generōsa, neuter generōsum, adverb generōsē); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from genus “birth, stock” with the suffix -ōsus.^[2][1][3][4] Servius explains it as from ⟨genus⟩.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL says it is not found before Cicero, Sallust and Nepos, and the OLD's earliest citations are from Cicero, of noble birth.^[3][2] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant of noble birth, high-born, as Cicero's generōsa ac nōbilis virgō and Sallust, and in Ovid connected with noble persons.^[2][6][7] In Livy it meant noble-spirited, and in Cicero of conduct noble, magnanimous.^[2][4] In Virgil and Pliny the Elder it meant of good breed, of animals, in Horace of plants and produce choice, and in Martial of metals precious.^[2][7]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant of noble birth, of superior quality, noble, excellent.^[8] It survives in Italian and Spanish generoso and French généreux, which gave English generous in the 1580s, first “of noble birth”.^[1][4]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of noble birth.^[2][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of animals of good breed.^[2][5]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of the noble-spirited.^[2][5]
• 1580s – English generous is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of noble birth, high-born.^[2]
2. Noble-spirited, magnanimous.^[2]
3. Of good breed; choice; precious.^[2]

Word family

• generōsitās

Related words

• generātor
• generō
• generōsē
• genus
• English generous

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson