longanimity
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of longanimity
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English longanimyte, from Late Latin longanimitās “patience,” equivalent to longanimi(s) “patient” ( long(us) long 1 + anim(us) “spirit” + -is adjective suffix) + -tās -ty 2
Explanation
Your longanimity is what keeps you calm and patient, even when you're running late on a crowded bus that's stuck in rush hour traffic. Use the noun longanimity when you want an uncommon way to say "cool, calm, and collected." If you stay relaxed and smiling while you're waiting to get a driver's license or on hold with the cable company, you've got an admirable amount of longanimity. The Latin root is longanimitas, which means "long-suffering or patient" and comes from longus, "long," and animus, "spirit or mind."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The language is heavily latinate: durable usages include "adulterate", "verity" and "prescience", while "potestates", "longanimity" and "conculcation" failed to stick.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 19, 2011
The holes in his bed linens finally exhausted even Lady Churchill's longanimity, and she gave him a smart dressing down.
From Time Magazine Archive
Objection 1: It seems that patience is the same as longanimity.
From Summa Theologica, Part II-II (Secunda Secundae) Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province by Saint Thomas Aquinas
When George Herbert tells us that if the sermon be dull, 'God takes a text and preacheth patience,' the prolongation of the word seems to convey some hint at the longanimity of the virtue.
From The Complete Poetical Works of James Russell Lowell by James Russell Lowell
I answer that, Just as by magnanimity a man has a mind to tend to great things, so by longanimity a man has a mind to tend to something a long way off.
From Summa Theologica, Part II-II (Secunda Secundae) Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province by Saint Thomas Aquinas
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