magˈnifəsən(t)s, maig-, məg- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin magnificentia, from magnificus noble, splendid, magnificent (from magnus great + -i- + -ficus -fic) + -entia -ence — more at much
1. — used as a title of respect applied to kings and other distinguished persons
your Magnificence has blood on your hands — Samuel Shellabarger
2. archaic : the virtue recognized in medieval ethics of unostentatious liberality in expeditures of money
3.
a. : lavish display in one's surroundings or appointments : splendor , sumptuousness
easily impressed by magnificence — Arnold Bennett
the wooden magnificence of Georgian columns — Thomas Wolfe
no greater magnificence than a Greek robe of virgin white — Elinor Wylie
b. obsolete : a brilliant ceremony
4. obsolete : greatness of reputation
and for the heavens' wide circuit, let it speak the Maker's high magnificence — John Milton
5. : spectacular beauty : grandeur , splendor
a sublimely awful scene of power and magnificence , a world of mountains piled upon mountains — Mark Van Doren
spring had descended in full force … with a gentle magnificence — Horace Sutton
6. : nobleness of expression