a. [ L. ingenuus inborn, innate, freeborn, noble, frank; pref. in- in + the root of gignere to beget. See Genius, and cf. Ingenious. ] 1. Of honorable extraction; freeborn; noble; as, ingenuous blood of birth. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Noble; generous; magnanimous; honorable; upright; high-minded; as, an ingenuous ardor or zeal. [ 1913 Webster ]

If an ingenuous detestation of falsehood be but carefully and early instilled, that is the true and genuine method to obviate dishonesty. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Free from reserve, disguise, equivocation, or dissimulation; open; frank; as, an ingenuous man; an ingenuous declaration, confession, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sensible in myself . . . what a burden it is for me, who would be ingenuous, to be loaded with courtesies which he hath not the least hope to requite or deserve. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Ingenious. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ (Formerly) printers did not discriminate between . . . ingenuous and ingenious, and these words were used or rather printed interchangeably almost to the beginning of the eighteenth century. G. P. Marsh.

Syn. -- Open; frank; unreserved; artless; plain; sincere; candid; fair; noble; generous. -- Ingenuous, Open, Frank. One who is open speaks out at once what is uppermost in his mind; one who is frank does it from a natural boldness, or dislike of self-restraint; one who is ingenuous is actuated by a native simplicity and artlessness, which make him willing to confess faults, and make known his sentiments without reserve. See Candid. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an ingenuous manner; openly; fairly; candidly; artlessly. [ 1913 Webster ]

Being required to explain himself, he ingenuously confessed. Ludlow. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The state or quality of being ingenuous; openness of heart; frankness. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Ingenuity. [ Obs. ] Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]