Harvey Breit
Did you know?
The English language has benefited from the largesse of Anglo-French, through which a generous number of words have passed; examples range from simple to account to desert. English speakers owe Anglo-French a huge thanks, in particular, for its adjective large. That word, meaning "generous, broad, or wide," is the source of both largesse and the familiar duo of large and enlarge. Most people understand enlarge to mean "to make larger," but a less common sense (used in Shakespeare's Henry V) is "to set free." Largesse also contains the notion of freedom, specifically with regard to a lack of financial constraints: it's not about having a "large" amount of money but rather being "free" with it. Incidentally, the English word large wasn't about size when it was first adopted in the 13th century. Back then it meant "lavish."
Examples of largesse in a Sentence
Jack Fowler, National Review, 4 July 2025
Its opening drew more than 10,000 visitors in its first 24 hours, and admission for the first decade of operation was made free thanks to the financial largesse of Newport Beach’s Lugano Diamonds.
—Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times, 16 June 2025
The network books approximately $35 million in advertising revenue during the afternoon, thanks to the largesse of sponsors such as Woodford Reserve, Ford and White Claw.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 29 Apr. 2025
In his later years, Mitchell spent some of his largesse on the pursuits of his youth, including astronomy and astrophysics.
—ArsTechnica, 11 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for largesse
Cite this Entry
“Largesse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/largesse. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
Copy Citation
Share