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  1. magnanimous love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. adj. Courageously noble in mind and heart.
  2. adj. Generous in forgiving; eschewing resentment or revenge; unselfish.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. Great of mind or heart; of high and steadfast courage; elevated in. soul or in sentiment; high-minded; raised above what is low, mean, or ungenerous.
  2. Dictated by greatness of mind or heart; exhibiting nobleness of soul; liberal and honorable; unselfish.
  3. Synonyms Generous (see noble); high-minded, great-souled, chivalrous.

Wiktionary

  1. adj. Noble and generous in spirit.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. adj. Great of mind; elevated in soul or in sentiment; raised above what is low, mean, or ungenerous; of lofty and courageous spirit
  2. adj. Dictated by or exhibiting nobleness of soul; honorable; noble; not selfish.

WordNet 3.0

  1. adj. noble and generous in spirit
  2. adj. generous and understanding and tolerant

Etymologies

  1. From Latin magnanimus, from magnus ("great") + animus ("soul, mind"). (Wiktionary)
  2. From Latin magnanimus : magnus, great; see meg- in Indo-European roots + animus, soul, mind; see anə- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

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Lists

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Comments

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  • bilby If you speak Italian, the conventional English pronunciation of this probably strikes you as ugly. Jul 10, 2008

  • shevek At least one translation of Aristotle uses the word magnanimous to refer to a person who is neither arrogant nor excessively humble. I like that definition better, because there isn't another word for that meaning, whereas generous is a perfectly good word, and not in need of a synonym. Jul 9, 2008

  • arby I think this is another one I misread as a child - "magnamanious". Jul 18, 2007

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‘magnanimous’ has been looked up 6748 times, loved by 33 people, added to 185 lists, commented on 3 times, and has a Scrabble score of 16.