generosus Latin · revision 7988

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Cicero|origins=la genus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ɡɛ.nɛˈroː.sʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [d͡ʒe.neˈrɔː.s̬us]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''generōsus''' (feminine generōsa, neuter generōsum, adverb generōsē); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is from [[genus]] “birth, stock” with the suffix [[-ōsus]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL)^(Etymonline) Servius explains it as from ⟨genus⟩.^(TLL)

+

+ ==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.^(TLL)^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==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.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) In Livy it meant noble-spirited, and in Cicero of conduct noble, magnanimous.^(OLD 2012)^(Etymonline) 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.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant of noble birth, of superior quality, noble, excellent.^(Stelten 1995) It survives in Italian and Spanish ''generoso'' and French ''généreux'', which gave [[en|generous]] in the 1580s, first “of noble birth”.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of noble birth.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of animals of good breed.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of the noble-spirited.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1580s – English ''generous'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of noble birth, high-born.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Noble-spirited, [[m|en|magnanimous]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # Of good breed; choice; precious.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[generōsitās]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[generātor]]

+ * [[generō]]

+ * [[generōsē]]

+ * [[genus]]

+ * [[en|generous]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}