| 释义 |
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.
a1225Ancr. R. 416 Of ancre kurtesie, and of ancre largesse, is i-kumen ofte sunne. c1340Cursor M. 27404 (Fairf.) Largesse gaine couaitise is sette. c1386Chaucer Pars. T. ⁋210 Jhesu Crist yeueth us thise yiftes of his largesse and of his souereyn bountee. 1477Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 8 Largesse and liberalite is knowen whan a man is in necessite and pourete. 1549Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Tim. 12 Himnes wherwith the larges of god is praysed before meate. 1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie i. xx. (Arb.) 58 The Prince hauing all plentie to vse largesse by. 1623Cockeram, Largesse, Liberalitie.
personified.1362Langl. P. Pl. A. vi. 112 Largesse the ladi ledeth in ful monye. a1366Chaucer Rom. Rose 1157 Not Avarice, the foule caytyf, Was half to grype so ententyf, As Largesse is to yeve and spende. a1420Hoccleve 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.
a1340Hampole Psalter Cant. 505 Worshipful he is in larges of giftys. c1470Golagros & Gaw. 423 For na largese my lord noght wil he neuer let. 1484Caxton Chivalry 67 Whan it shal be tyme of necessite to make largesse his hondes must gyue and dispende. 1561T. Norton Calvin's Inst. iii. xx. (1634) 431 So great and so plenteous largesse of his benefits doth in a manner overwhelme us. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, i. iv. 44 Our Coffers, with too great a Court, And liberall Largesse, are growne somewhat light. 1614Lodge Seneca 3 Neither can the prodigalitie and largesse of anything bee honest. 1622Hakewill David's Vow ii. 86 The widowes..heart being put to her mite, gave it weight aboue the greater..largess of the Pharisee. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 107 The Governor goes in Procession, and bestows his Largess. 1864Burton 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. 1870Dickens E. Drood xiii, Largess, in the form of odds and ends of cold cream and pomatum,..was freely distributed among the attendants. 1873Browning Red Cott. Nt.-cap 256 Your planned benevolence To man, your proposed largess to the Church. 1887Bowen 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.
1561J. Daus tr. Bullinger on Apoc. (1573) 187 Least any man shoulde vnthankfully and uniustly take away this larges of the French Kyng. 1600Holland Livy xxiv. xxi. 522 There was good hope that the souldiours should haue a largesse dealt amongst them out of the kings treasure. 1611Heywood Gold. Age iii. i. Wks. 1874 III. 52 Let all raryeties Showre downe from heauen a lardges. 1655Stanley Hist. Philos. iii. (1701) 101/2 Courting vulgar Applause with Largesses and Feasts. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 103, I gave a largess or bounty of five dollars a man. 1814Scott Chivalry (1874) 38 Largesses to the heralds and minstrels..were necessary accompaniments to the investiture of a person of rank. 1840Arnold 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.)
1377Langl. P. Pl. B xiii. 449 A blynd man..To crie a largesse by-for oure lorde. c1384Chaucer H. Fame iii. 219 Ther mette I cryinge many oon A larges larges. c1485Digby Myst. (1882) iii. 261 A largeys, ȝe lord, I crye þis day. 1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 129 Giue gloues to thy reapers, a larges to crie. 1587Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 1342/2 Then the heralds cried A larges, and the trumpets and drums were sounded euerie where. 1674–91Ray 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. 1688R. Holme Armoury i. 3/2 Heraulds have a right three several times to cry Largesse. 1787Grose 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. 1808Scott Marm. i. xi, Now largesse, largesse, Lord Marmion. a1825Forby 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.
a1533Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) E vij b, The greateste vyllany in a villayne is to be gyuen in largesse of lyes. 1682Dryden Relig. Laici 364 The Book's a common largess to mankind. 1688Crowne Darius i. Dram. Wks. 1874 III. 382 He's like the sun, a largesse to the world. 1785Cowper Needless Alarm 62 How glad they catch the largess of the skies. 1832Tennyson ‘All good things have not kept aloof’ 4, I have not lacked thy mild reproof, Nor golden largess of thy praise. 1888Lowell 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.
1375Barbour Bruce v. 427 Quhar he mycht at his largess be. c1425Lydg. Assembly of Gods 1327 There to haue..largesse to stryke as longeth to thy cure. c1470Henry Wallace ix. 524 Thai..maid thaim fre, at their largis [v.r. at larges] to pass. 1547Act 1 Edw. VI, c. 3 §4 He shall not goe abroad, and at larges. 1594Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits (1596) 225 Discoursing of the largesse and liberty which souldiers enioy in Italie.
5. attrib. (dial.)
1827Hone Every-day Bk. II. 1047 The ‘Largess’-cry, the ‘Harvest-home!’ 1856Farmer's Mag. Jan. 79 Two especial seasons of jollity among them generally occur in each year—the harvest-home,..and the largess feast. |