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liberality

[lib-uh-ral-i-tee]
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noun, plural lib·er·al·i·ties.
  1. the quality or condition of being liberal in giving; generosity; bounty.
  2. a liberal gift.
  3. breadth of mind.
  4. broadness or fullness, as of proportions or physical attributes.
  5. liberalism.
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Origin of liberality

1300–50; Middle English liberalite < Latin līberālitās. See liberal, -ity
Related formso·ver·lib·er·al·i·ty, nounpre·lib·er·al·i·ty, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for liberality

Historical Examples

  • If we don't profit by that liberality the fault is not His but our own.

    The Conquest of Fear

    Basil King

  • The cost of this act of liberality amounted nearly to L2000.

  • The liberality of one who has much, in permitting one who has nothing to get all that he can.

  • Generosity and liberality, like honesty, prove the best policy after all.

    Self-Help

    Samuel Smiles

  • Rich, noble and great they are by the liberality of our speech, but truth is sad.

    Essays, First Series

    Ralph Waldo Emerson

British Dictionary definitions for liberality

liberality

noun plural -ties
  1. generosity; bounty
  2. the quality or condition of being liberal
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for liberality

n.

mid-14c., "generosity," from Old French liberalité "generosity, liberality" (13c.), from Latin liberalitatem (nominative liberalitas) "way of thinking or acting befitting a free man," noun of quality from liberalis (see liberal (adj.)).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper