Harvey Breit
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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
Dan Cancian, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Of course, the wealth gap does raise the question of why the elderly are the beneficiaries of so much government largesse.
—Allison Schrager, Twin Cities, 31 Aug. 2025
Both entities foolishly used the largesse to substantially expand their unionized staffs and now don’t have the revenue base to support those higher costs.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 26 Aug. 2025
Gimlet’s largesse was worth it.
—Eric Benson, Rolling Stone, 18 Aug. 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 10 Sep. 2025.
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