Definition of largesse
1 : liberal giving (as of money) to or as if to an inferior a philanthropist known for his largesse; also : something so given projects depending on a flow of federal largesse
2 : generosity his generosity of spirit, an absolutely natural largesse — Harvey Breit
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Examples of largesse in a Sentence
He relied on the largesse of friends after he lost his job.
Recent Examples of largesse from the Web
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Critics faulted it for delivering benefits to one large and dominant business when scores of smaller companies in Connecticut would benefit from state largesse.
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The counties of Harford and Frederick also benefit from an enviable bit of stable government largesse — their biggest single employers are both military.
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And as beating benchmarks becomes harder, the industry is discovering that pension funds’ largesse has its limits.
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Thanks to Washington largesse, DynCorp has grown into a constellation of nine divisions –
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'largesse'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
The word largesse, which also can be spelled "largess" (as in our second example sentence), has been part of the English language since at least the 13th century. It derives via Anglo-French from the Latin word largus, meaning "abundant" or "generous." "Largus" is also the source of our word large. As far back as the 14th century, we used the word largeness as a synonym of "largesse" ("liberal giving"). In fact, that may have been the first sense of "largeness," which has since come to refer to physical magnitude and bulk more often than to magnanimity.
Origin and Etymology of largesse
Middle English largesse, from Anglo-French, from large
First Known Use: 13th century
LARGESSE Defined for English Language Learners
largesse
playDefinition of largesse for English Language Learners
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: the act of giving away money or the quality of a person who gives away money; also : money that is given away
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Spanish Central: Translation of largesse Nglish: Translation of largesse for Spanish speakers
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