magnanimous
/mæɡˈnæn.ɪ.məs/mag-NA-nuh-muhs
/mæɡˈnæn.ɪ.məs/mag-NA-nuh-muhs
Meaninggreat-souled
Common meaning: generous and forgiving, especially to a rival
- magngreat
- animthe breath of life; soulLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 120 · scan
- ousadjective ending: full of, having
‘great’ + ‘the breath of life’ → magnanimous
Journey through time
- Latinanima, -ae / animus, -ī‘the breath of life’
- Englishmagnanimous‘generous and forgiving, especially to a rival’ · today
anim also in: animateanimatedanimatoranimationmagnanimously
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Latin anima ‘the breath of life; soul’.
Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry anima, p. 120 · dictionary scan
Roots
- anima, -ae / animus, -ī Latin “the breath of life; soul”
Related words
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