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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

Related Words

profusion, heart, magnanimity, goodness, altruism, lavishness, beneficence, philanthropy, bounty, kindness, charity, readiness, benevolence, hospitality, munificence, largesse, nobleness

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