arch. and literary. 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. Shaks., 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. Daus, trans. 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.
