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munificence

UK/mjuːˈnɪfɪsəns/US/mjuːˈnɪfɪsəns/
nounC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #15,115 of 15,258Too rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

Munificence is great generosity in giving. The munificence of the founder.

It is used of large public gifts rather than of private kindness. Munificence is what puts a name on a building, which is part of the arrangement.

Definitions of munificence

  1. 1nounmunificenceGreat generosity in giving.C2

    “The whole library was built on the munificence of one family.”

munificence is a generosity.

Where it comes from

Latin munificentia is munus, a gift, plus facere, to make.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *mey- (change)

  2. Latin

    munificentia

  3. Middle French

    munificence

  4. English, today

    munificence

Built from

  • munus · Latin — gift
  • facio · Latin — to make

From Middle French munificence, from Latin munificentia, from munus (“gift”) + facio (“to make”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

munificence in the wild

  • Again, in Germany, there were no princely patrons of arts and learning to be compared in intelligence and munificence to the Renaissance popes and the Medici.

    Renaissance humanism in Northern Europe

  • Thanks to the munificence of its devotees, the temple has been given a facelift in the recent past.

    Punnainallur Mariamman Temple

  • According to his vida, he was like his father in merit, good deeds, and munificence, and also reputed to be a good lover.

    Blacasset

  • Mambala made them a present of two bags of maize and some money and thanked them publicly for their munificence.

    Nkaya

  • Dermot, the son of William, son of John Boy, a woman distinguished for her beauty and munificence, died.

    Diarmaid Ó Seachnasaigh

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the munus family

immunemunicipal

munificence — used about once every 159,543 pages · #15,115 · point at the bar for the others