Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “liberality” come from?

Liberality comes from Middle English liberalite, from Old French liberalité, from Latin liberalitas, formed from the adjective liberalis (from lewbʰ-, meaning to care or be willing) plus the suffix -tas denoting a state or quality.

liberality (English): The property of being liberal; generosity;...

Definitions

  1. The property of being liberal; generosity;...

Ancestry of “liberality”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishliberalite—
2Old Frenchliberalité—
3Latinliberalitasfrankness, affability; generosity, liberality
4Latinlīberālis—
5LatinLīber—
6Old Latinloeber—
7Frenchloberto lob
8Frenchloblob
9EnglishlobTo throw or hit a ball into the air in a high...
10EnglishlongHaving much distance from one terminating point...
11EnglishlongitudeAngular distance measured west or east of the...
12Old Frenchlongitude—
13Latinlongitūdō—
14Latinlongusfar, long; extended, prolonged; long; tedious,...
15Latin-ē—
16Latindis-asunder, apart, in two; reversal, removal;...
17Latincalceusshoe
Every word from Latin calceus →