largess, largesse arch. and literary.
(lɑːˈdʒɛs, ˈlɑː-)
Forms: 3–4 largesce, 4–7 larges, (5 -eys, -is, 7 lardges), 3– largesse, 6– largess.
[a. F. largesse = Pr., Sp. largueza, It. larghezza:—late L. *largitia, f. largus (see large a.).]
† 1. Liberality, bountifulness, munificence. Obs.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 416 Of ancre kurtesie, and of ancre largesse, is i-kumen ofte sunne. c 1340 Cursor M. 27404 (Fairf.) Largesse gaine couaitise is sette. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶210 Jhesu Crist yeueth us thise yiftes of his largesse and of his souereyn bountee. 1477 Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 8 Largesse and liberalite is knowen whan a man is in necessite and pourete. 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Tim. 12 Himnes wherwith the larges of god is praysed before meate. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie i. xx. (Arb.) 58 The Prince hauing all plentie to vse largesse by. 1623 Cockeram, Largesse, Liberalitie. |
| personified. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. vi. 112 Largesse the ladi ledeth in ful monye. ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 1157 Not Avarice, the foule caytyf, Was half to grype so ententyf, As Largesse is to yeve and spende. a 1420 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 4119 Of myne helply lady souereyne Largesse, my lady, now wil I ryme. |
2. Liberal or bountiful bestowal of gifts;
occas. † lavish expenditure;
concr. money or other gifts freely bestowed,
e.g. by a sovereign upon some special occasion of rejoicing or the like.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter Cant. 505 Worshipful he is in larges of giftys. c 1470 Golagros & Gaw. 423 For na largese my lord noght wil he neuer let. 1484 Caxton Chivalry 67 Whan it shal be tyme of necessite to make largesse his hondes must gyue and dispende. 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. iii. xx. (1634) 431 So great and so plenteous largesse of his benefits doth in a manner overwhelme us. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, i. iv. 44 Our Coffers, with too great a Court, And liberall Largesse, are growne somewhat light. 1614 Lodge Seneca 3 Neither can the prodigalitie and largesse of anything bee honest. 1622 Hakewill David's Vow ii. 86 The widowes..heart being put to her mite, gave it weight aboue the greater..largess of the Pharisee. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 107 The Governor goes in Procession, and bestows his Largess. 1864 Burton Scot Abr. I. v. 302 The handsel-day belongs to the New Year itself. It is still in full practice in Scotland as a day of largess. 1870 Dickens E. Drood xiii, Largess, in the form of odds and ends of cold cream and pomatum,..was freely distributed among the attendants. 1873 Browning Red Cott. Nt.-cap 256 Your planned benevolence To man, your proposed largess to the Church. 1887 Bowen Virg. æneid v. 248 æneas..then gives to the crews Largess noble of three steers each. |
b. In particularized sense: A free gift or dole of money, etc.
| 1561 J. Daus tr. Bullinger on Apoc. (1573) 187 Least any man shoulde vnthankfully and uniustly take away this larges of the French Kyng. 1600 Holland Livy xxiv. xxi. 522 There was good hope that the souldiours should haue a largesse dealt amongst them out of the kings treasure. 1611 Heywood Gold. Age iii. i. Wks. 1874 III. 52 Let all raryeties Showre downe from heauen a lardges. 1655 Stanley Hist. Philos. iii. (1701) 101/2 Courting vulgar Applause with Largesses and Feasts. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 103, I gave a largess or bounty of five dollars a man. 1814 Scott Chivalry (1874) 38 Largesses to the heralds and minstrels..were necessary accompaniments to the investiture of a person of rank. 1840 Arnold Hist. Rome (1846) II. ix. 54 His triumphs were followed by various largesses of provisions and money to the populace. |
c. largess! or
† a largess!: a call for a gift of money, addressed to a person of relatively high position on some special occasion. (Still in use locally at ‘harvest home’; otherwise
Hist.)
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B xiii. 449 A blynd man..To crie a largesse by-for oure lorde. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame iii. 219 Ther mette I cryinge many oon A larges larges. c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) iii. 261 A largeys, ȝe lord, I crye þis day. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 129 Giue gloues to thy reapers, a larges to crie. 1587 Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 1342/2 Then the heralds cried A larges, and the trumpets and drums were sounded euerie where. 1674–91 Ray S. & E. C. Words 104 A Largess,..a Gift to Harvest-men particularly, who cry a Largess so many times as there are pence given. 1688 R. Holme Armoury i. 3/2 Heraulds have a right three several times to cry Largesse. 1787 Grose Prov. Gloss. s.v., The reapers in Essex and Suffolk ask all passengers for a largess, and when any money is given to them, all shout together largess, largess. 1808 Scott Marm. i. xi, Now largesse, largesse, Lord Marmion. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Largess, a gift to reapers in harvest. When they have received it, they shout thrice, the words ‘halloo largess’. |
3. transf. and
fig. (from 2). A generous or plentiful bestowal; something freely bestowed.
| a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) E vij b, The greateste vyllany in a villayne is to be gyuen in largesse of lyes. 1682 Dryden Relig. Laici 364 The Book's a common largess to mankind. 1688 Crowne Darius i. Dram. Wks. 1874 III. 382 He's like the sun, a largesse to the world. 1785 Cowper Needless Alarm 62 How glad they catch the largess of the skies. 1832 Tennyson ‘All good things have not kept aloof’ 4, I have not lacked thy mild reproof, Nor golden largess of thy praise. 1888 Lowell Protest 2, I could not bear to see those eyes On all with wasteful largess shine. |
† 4. Freedom, liberty.
at his largesse, at liberty (
cf. at one's large), at one's own discretion.
Obs.| 1375 Barbour Bruce v. 427 Quhar he mycht at his largess be. c 1425 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 1327 There to haue..largesse to stryke as longeth to thy cure. c 1470 Henry Wallace ix. 524 Thai..maid thaim fre, at their largis [v.r. at larges] to pass. 1547 Act 1 Edw. VI, c. 3 §4 He shall not goe abroad, and at larges. 1594 Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits (1596) 225 Discoursing of the largesse and liberty which souldiers enioy in Italie. |
5. attrib. (
dial.)
| 1827 Hone Every-day Bk. II. 1047 The ‘Largess’-cry, the ‘Harvest-home!’ 1856 Farmer's Mag. Jan. 79 Two especial seasons of jollity among them generally occur in each year—the harvest-home,..and the largess feast. |