charity
UK /ˈtʃæɹɪti/ · US /ˈt͡ʃɛɹəti/ noun, proper noun
Forms charities
- noun (countable) An organization, the objective of which is to carry out a charitable purpose. “The event raised money for local charities.”
- noun (countable) The goods or money given to those in need, or the act of doing it.
- noun (uncountable) Benevolence to the less fortunate; the providing of goods or money to those in need. “act of charity”
- noun In general, an attitude of kindness and understanding towards others, now especially suggesting generosity.
- noun (archaic, Christianity) Christian love; representing God's love of man, man's love of God, or man's love of his fellow-men.
- noun (US, Philippines, basketball, informal) A free throw.
- proper noun A female given name from English.
- proper noun The 107th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.
Synonyms
dole agape charitable organization brotherly love Jacob's ladder Greek valerian Polemonium caeruleum Polemonium van-bruntiae Polymonium caeruleum van-bruntiae
Etymology
From Middle English charite, from Old French charité, cherte, chariteit, cariteit, from Latin cāritās.
* The Tyndale Bible uses native English love instead.
From charity in the Biblical sense of Christian love; first used by Puritans. In early Christian tradition, Faith, Hope and Charity were the martyred daughters of Saint Sophia. The names, taken from 1 Corinthians 13:13 ("And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity") have been translated and used in many languages.
The name of the sura (chapter) is one of several translations of the original Arabic.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Love; universal benevolence; good will.
- noun Now abideth faith, hope, charity, three; but the greatest of these is charity. 1. Cor. xiii. 13.
Etymology [F. charité fr. L. caritas dearness, high regard, love, from carus dear, costly, loved; asin to Skr. kam to wish, love, cf. Ir. cara a friend, W. caru to love. Cf. Caress.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “charity”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details