In Wuthering Heights, what does munificent mean?
If you ever receive something that's munificent, you must be sure to thank the giver with a handwritten note. After all, munificent means very generous or lavish — and you don't want to seem ungrateful.
The root of the word lies in munificus, Latin for bountiful or generous.
In Wuthering Heights, housekeeper Nelly Dean is reluctant to leave 5-year-old Hareton in order to accompany newly married (and very spoiled) Catherine to her new home:
When I refused to go, and when [Catherine] found her entreaties did not move me, she went lamenting to her husband and brother. The former offered me munificent wages; the latter ordered me to pack up: he wanted no women in the house....