generous

English

Etymology

From Middle French genereux, and its source, Latin generōsus (“of noble birth”), from genus (“race, stock”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛn(ə)ɹəs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

generous (comparative more generous, superlative most generous)

1. Noble in behaviour or actions; principled, not petty; kind, magnanimous. [from 16th c.]

   Thank you for your generous words.

2. Willing to give and share unsparingly; showing a readiness to give more (especially money) than is expected or needed. [from 17th c.]

   Synonym: free

   She's been extremely generous with her winnings.

3. Large, more than ample, copious. [from 17th c.]

   Add a generous helping of mayonnaise.

   his generous buttocks

   • 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 4:

     [H]is hard jaw worked slowly upon a generous mouthful of plug cut.

   • 2018, Tayari Jones, An American Marriage, Oneworld Publications, page 226:

     The ice cream parlors served generous scoops, hand-dipped by college-bound teenagers who spoke through colorful orthodontia.

4. Invigorating in its nature.

   a generous wine

5. (obsolete) Of noble birth. [16th–19th c.]

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:generous

Derived terms

• generously
• generousness
• overgenerous
• supergenerous
• ungenerous

Related terms

• generosity

Translations

noble in behaviour, magnanimous

Albanian: bujar (sq) Belarusian: вялікаду́шны (vjalikadúšny), высакаро́дны (vysakaródny), шляхе́тны (šljaxjétny) Bhojpuri: दिलदार (dilᵊdār) Bulgarian: великоду́шен (bg) (velikodúšen), благоро́ден (bg) (blagoróden) Catalan: generós (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 慷慨 (zh) (kāngkǎi), 大方 (zh) (dàfang), 寬宏大量 / 宽宏大量 (zh) (kuānhóngdàliàng), 寬厚 / 宽厚 (zh) (kuānhòu) Czech: šlechetný (cs) Dutch: grootmoedig (nl) Esperanto: grandanima Finnish: ylevä (fi), suurenmoinen (fi) French: généreux (fr) m Galician: xeneroso m Georgian: დიდსულოვანი (didsulovani), სულგრძელი (sulgrʒeli) Hindi: दिलदार (hi) (dildār), उदार (hi) (udār) Ido: jeneroza (io) Irish: mórchroíoch, flaithiúil, flaithiúlach, gartach (literary) Italian: magnanimo (it) m Korean: 관대하다 (gwandaehada) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: camêr (ku) Macedonian: велико́душен (velikódušen), благо́роден (blagóroden) Maori: ngākau oha Norman: génétheux (Jersey) Occitan: generós (oc) Ottoman Turkish: كریم (kerim) Persian: نجیب (fa) (najib), راد (fa) (râd) Polish: wielkoduszny (pl), szlachetny (pl) Portuguese: magnânimo (pt), grande (pt), digno (pt) Romanian: generos (ro), mărinimos (ro) Russian: великоду́шный (ru) (velikodúšnyj), благоро́дный (ru) (blagoródnyj) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: велико̀душан Roman: velikòdušan (sh) Slovak: šľachetný Slovene: velikodušen (sl) Spanish: generoso (es), magnánimo (es) Tagalog: bukas-palad (tl) (idiomatic), mapagbigay (tl) Ukrainian: великоду́шний (velykodúšnyj), благоро́дний (uk) (blahoródnyj), шляхе́тний (šljaxétnyj)

willing to give and share unsparingly

Aghwan: 𐕣𐕒𐕡𐔾𐕐𐔰𐔳 (kulšad) Albanian: dhënës (sq) , bujar (sq) Arabic: كَرِيم (karīm) Egyptian Arabic: كريم (karīm) Armenian: շռայլ (hy) (šṙayl) Azerbaijani: əliaçıq (az), səxavətli (az), comərd Bashkir: йомарт (yomart) Basque: eskuzabal, emankor (eu) Belarusian: шчо́дры (ščódry) Bulgarian: ще́дър (bg) (štédǎr) Catalan: generós (ca) Cebuano: hingatag, mahatagon, manggihatagon, bukhad og palad Chinese: Mandarin: 慷慨 (zh) (kāngkǎi), 大方 (zh) (dàfang), 寬宏大量 / 宽宏大量 (zh) (kuānhóngdàliàng), 寬厚 / 宽厚 (zh) (kuānhòu) Czech: štědrý (cs) m Danish: generøs Dutch: gul (nl), genereus (nl), vrijgevig (nl), scheutig (nl) Esperanto: malavara, sindona, donacema, grandanima, oferema Finnish: antelias (fi) French: généreux (fr) m Galician: xeneroso m Georgian: გულუხვი (guluxvi), სულგრძელი (sulgrʒeli) German: großzügig (de), generös (de) Greek: γενναιόδωρος (el) (gennaiódoros) Hebrew: נדיב (he) Hiligaynon: maalwan, mahalaron, mapanghatagon Hungarian: nagylelkű (hu), bőkezű (hu), adakozó (hu), nagyvonalú (hu) Ido: jeneroza (io) Indonesian: murah hati (id), dermawan (id) Ingrian: hetas, aukka Irish: mórchroíoch, gnaíúil Italian: generoso (it) m Japanese: 気の大きい (ki no ōkii), 気前の良い (kimae no yoi), 寛大 (ja) (kandai) Kabuverdianu: roskon Kazakh: береген (beregen) Khmer: មាន​ចិត្ដសប្បុរស (miən cət sɑpboʼrɑh) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: merd (ku), destvekirî (ku) Ladino: sadikero Latin: mūnificus, largus Latvian: dāsns, devīgs Macedonian: да́режлив (dárežliv), ште́дар (štédar) Maori: atawhai, nihowera (referring to food), ohaoha, marae Mongolian: please add this translation if you can Norwegian: Bokmål: sjenerøs (no), raus (no) Nynorsk: sjenerøs, raus Ottoman Turkish: جومرد (cömerd), كریم (kerim) Persian: بخشنده (fa) (baxšande), راد (fa) (râd), رادمنش (fa) (râd-maneš) Plautdietsch: boarmherzich Polish: hojny (pl) m, szczodry (pl) m Portuguese: generoso (pt), dadivoso, mão-aberta Quechua: ruq'a Romanian: generos (ro), darnic (ro) Russian: ще́дрый (ru) (ščédryj) Sanskrit: राति (sa) (rāti), मीढ्वस् (sa) (mīḍhvas) Scots: guidwilly Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: дарѐжљив, велико̀душан Roman: darèžljiv (sh), velikòdušan (sh) Sinhalese: ත්‍යාගශීලි (tyāgaśīli) Slovak: štedrý Slovene: radodaren (sl), darežljiv Southern Altai: кӱӱнчек (küünček) Spanish: generoso (es), dadivoso (es), munificente (es) Swahili: karimu (sw) Swedish: generös (sv) Tagalog: mapagbigay (tl), palabigay, bukas-palad (tl) Thai: ใจกว้าง (th) (jai-gwâang), ใจสปอร์ต, เอื้อเฟื้อ (th) (ʉ̂ʉa-fʉ́ʉa), เผื่อแผ่ (th) (pʉ̀ʉa-pɛ̀ɛ), เอื้อเฟื้อเผื่อแผ่ (ʉ̂ʉa-fʉ́ʉa-pʉ̀ʉa-pɛ̀ɛ) Turkish: cömert (tr), eli açık (tr), selek (tr),(dialectal), semih (tr) (archaic) Ukrainian: ще́дрий (ščédryj), го́йний (hójnyj), щедро́тний (ščedrótnyj) Urdu: سخی (saxī) Vietnamese: rộng lượng (vi), hào phóng (vi) Welsh: hael (cy)

large, ample

Bulgarian: обилен (bg) (obilen), богат (bg) (bogat) Chinese: Mandarin: 豐富 / 丰富 (zh) (fēngfù), 大量 (zh) (dàliàng) Dutch: gul (nl), genereus (nl) Finnish: runsas (fi) Georgian: უხვი (uxvi) German: großzügig (de), generös (de) Greek: γερός (el) (gerós) Hebrew: נדיב (he) Italian: abbondante (it) Macedonian: о́билен (óbilen) Maori: rari, māhorahora Norwegian: Bokmål: sjenerøs (no) Nynorsk: sjenerøs Portuguese: abundante (pt) Russian: ще́дрый (ru) (ščédryj) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: и̏зда̄шан, обѝлат Roman: ȉzdāšan (sh), obìlat (sh) Spanish: generoso (es) Turkish: bol (tr)

of noble birth

Bulgarian: благоро́ден (bg) (blagoróden) Chinese: Mandarin: 出身高貴的 / 出身高贵的 (chūshēn gāoguì de) Czech: velkomožný Dutch: edelboortig, nobel (nl), hooggeboren (nl) Finnish: jalosukuinen (fi) Georgian: დიდგვაროვანი (didgvarovani), დიდებული (ka) (didebuli), წარჩინებული (c̣arčinebuli), თავადი (tavadi), კეთილშობილი (ḳetilšobili) Macedonian: благо́роден (blagóroden) Maori: ariki (mi) Persian: نجیب (fa) (najib) Portuguese: generoso (pt), nobre (pt) Russian: благоро́дный (ru) (blagoródnyj), родови́тый (ru) (rodovítyj) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: племѐнит, пле̏менит Roman: plemènit (sh), plȅmenit (sh) Spanish: generoso (es) Turkish: asil (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Italian: (please verify) generoso (it) Korean: (please verify) 관대한 (gwandaehan) Latin: (please verify) generōsus (la), (please verify) līberālis (la) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: (please verify) велико̀душан Roman: (please verify) velikòdušan (sh)