Etymologically
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generosus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 14:48. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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

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