charity

[char-i-tee] /ˈtʃær ɪ ti/
noun, plural charities.
1.
generous actions or donations to aid the poor, ill, or helpless:
to devote one's life to charity.
2.
something given to a person or persons in need; alms:
She asked for work, not charity.
3.
a charitable act or work.
4.
a charitable fund, foundation, or institution:
He left his estate to a charity.
5.
benevolent feeling, especially toward those in need or in disfavor:
She looked so poor that we fed her out of charity.
6.
leniency in judging others; forbearance:
She was inclined to view our selfish behavior with charity.
7.
Christian love; agape.
Origin
1125-75; Middle English charite < Old French < Latin cāritāt- (stem of cāritās), equivalent to cār(us) dear (akin to caress, cherish, Kama, whore) + -itāt- -ity
Related forms
charityless, adjective
overcharity, noun
procharity, adjective
Synonyms
5. kindliness, consideration, humanity, benignity, sympathy.
Antonyms
5. malevolence.

Charity

[char-i-tee] /ˈtʃær ɪ ti/
noun
1.
a female given name.
Examples from the web for charity
  • When he was seventeen, he opened his first charity, the student advisory centre.
  • His friends quickly chided and mocked him for his act of charity.
  • The school holds various charity events and selects two school charities per annum.
  • He is vicechairman of the wild trout trust conservation charity.
  • These are now collected at the door and later given to charity.
  • He was a master at dressage and made charity appearances at horse shows.
  • All the money went to his favourite charity, cancer research.
  • Charitable trust defer and reduce capital gains by giving equity to a charity.
  • The term spastics was used by the charity as a term for people with cp.
British Dictionary definitions for charity

charity

/ˈtʃærɪtɪ/
noun (pl) -ties
1.
  1. the giving of help, money, food, etc, to those in need
  2. (as modifier): a charity show
2.
  1. an institution or organization set up to provide help, money, etc, to those in need
  2. (as modifier): charity funds
3.
the help, money, etc, given to the needy; alms
4.
a kindly and lenient attitude towards people
5.
love of one's fellow men
Word Origin
C13: from Old French charite, from Latin cāritās affection, love, from cārus dear
Word Origin and History for charity
n.

mid-12c., "benevolence for the poor," from Old French charité "(Christian) charity, mercy, compassion; alms; charitable foundation" (12c., Old North French carité), from Latin caritatem (nominative caritas) "costliness, esteem, affection" (in Vulgate often used as translation of Greek agape "love" -- especially Christian love of fellow man -- perhaps to avoid the sexual suggestion of Latin amor), from carus "dear, valued," from PIE *karo-, from root *ka- "to like, desire" (see whore (n.)).

Vulgate also sometimes translated agape by Latin dilectio, noun of action from diligere "to esteem highly, to love" (see diligence).

Wyclif and the Rhemish version regularly rendered the Vulgate dilectio by 'love,' caritas by 'charity.' But the 16th c. Eng. versions from Tindale to 1611, while rendering agape sometimes 'love,' sometimes 'charity,' did not follow the dilectio and caritas of the Vulgate, but used 'love' more often (about 86 times), confining 'charity' to 26 passages in the Pauline and certain of the Catholic Epistles (not in I John), and the Apocalypse .... In the Revised Version 1881, 'love' has been substituted in all these instances, so that it now stands as the uniform rendering of agape. [OED]
Sense of "charitable foundation or institution" in English attested by 1690s.

Slang definitions & phrases for charity

charity

Related Terms

cold as hell


charity in Technology
language
A functional language based purely on category theory by Cockett, Spencer, and Fukushima, 1990-1991.
A version for Sun-4 is available from Tom Fukushima fukushim@ucalgary.ca.
["About Charity", J.R.B. Cockett, U. Calgary, Canada, et al].
(2000-10-30)
charity in the Bible

(1 Cor. 13), the rendering in the Authorized Version of the word which properly denotes love, and is frequently so rendered (always so in the Revised Version). It is spoken of as the greatest of the three Christian graces (1 Cor. 12:31-13:13).

Encyclopedia Article for charity

in Christian thought, the highest form of love, signifying the reciprocal love between God and man that is made manifest in unselfish love of one's fellow men. St. Paul's classical description of charity is found in the New Testament (I Cor. 13). In Christian theology and ethics, charity (a translation of the Greek word agape, also meaning "love") is most eloquently shown in the life, teachings, and death of Jesus Christ. St. Augustine summarized much of Christian thought about charity when he wrote: "Charity is a virtue which, when our affections are perfectly ordered, unites us to God, for by it we love him." Using this definition and others from the Christian tradition, the medieval theologians, especially St. Thomas Aquinas, placed charity in the context of the other Christian virtues and specified its role as "the foundation or root" of them all

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