charity

See also: Charity

English

Etymology

From Middle English charite, from Old French charité, cherte, chariteit, cariteit, from Latin cāritās.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtʃæɹɪti/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃɛɹəti/

• Audio (US, California)

  (file)

Noun

charity (countable and uncountable, plural charities)

1. (countable) An organization, the objective of which is to carry out a charitable purpose.
   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 6, in The China Governess‎^[1]:

     ‘[…] I remember a lady coming to inspect St. Mary's Home where I was brought up and seeing us all in our lovely Elizabethan uniforms we were so proud of, and bursting into tears all over us because “it was wicked to dress us like charity children”. […]’.

2. (countable) The goods or money given to those in need.
3. (uncountable) Benevolence to others less fortunate than ourselves; the providing of goods or money to those in need.
4. In general, an attitude of kindness and understanding towards others, now especially suggesting generosity.
   • July 20, 1677, John Mitchell Mason, letter to a friend

     Judge thyself with the judgment of sincerity, and thou witl judge others with the judgment of charity.

5. (archaic, Christianity) Christian love; representing God's love of man, man's love of God, or man's love of his fellow-men.

   Synonym: agape

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, 1 Corinthians 13:4-5:

     Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil.

Synonyms

• (organization): charitable organization

Derived terms

• anticharity
• charitable
• charity begins at home
• charity box
• charity boy
• charity case
• charity label
• charity mugger
• charity shop
• charity stamp
• charity stripe
• charityware
• chugger
• cold as charity
• discharity
• incharity
• metacharity
• principle of charity

 

Translations

Christian love

• Bulgarian: милосъ́рдие (bg) n (milosǎ́rdie)
• Burmese: မေတ္တာ (my) (metta), အချစ် (my) (a.hkyac)
• Catalan: caritat (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 慈善 (zh) (císhàn)

• Dutch: naastenliefde (nl) f
• Esperanto: kariteco
• Finnish: armeliaisuus (fi)
• French: charité (fr) f
• German: Nächstenliebe (de) f
• Greek: καλοσύνη (el) f (kalosýni), φιλανθρωπία (el) f (filanthropía)
• Italian: carità (it), amore (it)
• Japanese: 慈善 (ja) (jizen)
• Macedonian: милоср́дие n (milosŕdie)
• Maori: aroha (mi)
• Portuguese: caridade (pt) f
• Russian: милосе́рдие (ru) n (milosérdije)
• Spanish: caridad (es) f, amor al prójimo m
• Tagalog: kawang gawa
• Ukrainian: любов до ближнього f (ljubov do blyžnʹoho)

attitude

• Bulgarian: милосъ́рдие (bg) n (milosǎ́rdie)
• Catalan: caritat (ca) f
• Dutch: naastenliefde (nl) f
• Esperanto: kariteco, homamo
• Finnish: armeliaisuus (fi)
• French: charité (fr) f
• German: Nächstenliebe (de) f
• Greek: καλοσύνη (el) f (kalosýni), φιλανθρωπία (el) f (filanthropía)
• Italian: altruismo (it)
• Japanese: 慈善 (ja) (jizen)
• Latin: caritas f
• Macedonian: милоср́дие n (milosŕdie)
• Portuguese: caridade (pt) f
• Russian: милосе́рдие (ru) n (milosérdije)
• Spanish: caridad (es) f, amor al prójimo m

providing of goods or money

• Afrikaans: aalmoes (af)
• Arabic: إِحْسَان‎ (ar) m (ʾiḥsān)
• Armenian: բարեգործություն (hy) (baregorcutʿyun)
• Bulgarian: благотвори́телност (bg) f (blagotvorítelnost)
• Catalan: caritat (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 慈善 (zh) (císhàn)

• Czech: dobročinnost f
• Danish: velgørenhed (da) c
• Dutch: liefdadigheid (nl) f
• Esperanto: karitato
• Finnish: hyväntekeväisyys (fi)
• French: charité (fr) f
• Galician: caridade (gl) f
• Georgian: ქველმოქმედება (ka) (kvelmokmedeba)
• German: Wohltätigkeit (de) f
• Gothic: 𐌰𐍂𐌼𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍄𐌹𐌸𐌰 f (armahairtiþa), 𐌰𐍂𐌼𐌰𐌹𐍉 f (armaiō)
• Greek: αγαθοεργία (el) f (agathoergía)
• Hebrew: צְדָקָה‎ (he) f (ts'daká)
• Hindi: दान (hi) (dān)
• Hungarian: jótékonyság (hu)
• Icelandic: góðgerðarstarfsemi f
• Indonesian: amal (id)
• Italian: carità (it) f
• Japanese: 慈善 (ja) (じぜん, jizen)
• Kazakh: қайырымдылық (qaiyrymdylyq)
• Korean: 자선(慈善) (ko) (jaseon)
• Latin: stips m
• Latvian: labdarība f
• Macedonian: добротво́рност f (dobrotvórnost)
• Maori: koha aroha
• Occitan: caritat (oc) f
• Polish: działalność charytatywna f
• Portuguese: caridade (pt), doação (pt) f
• Russian: благотвори́тельность (ru) f (blagotvorítelʹnostʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: dobrodavstvo n, dobrodavanje n

• Swedish: välgörenhet (sv) c
• Ukrainian: благочи́нність f (blahočýnnistʹ)

goods or money given

• Arabic: صَدَقَة‎ f (ṣadaqa)
• Bashkir: хәйер (xäyer), саҙаҡа (saðaqa)
• Bengali: সদকা (bn) (śôdka)
• Bulgarian: благотвори́телност (bg) f (blagotvorítelnost)
• Dutch: liefdadigheid (nl) f
• Finnish: hyväntekeväisyys (fi)
• French: charité (fr) f
• Gothic: 𐌰𐍂𐌼𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍄𐌹𐌸𐌰 f (armahairtiþa), 𐌰𐍂𐌼𐌰𐌹𐍉 f (armaiō)
• Greek: ελεημοσύνη (el) f (eleïmosýni)
• Italian: carità (it)
• Macedonian: добротво́рен при́лог m (dobrotvóren prílog)
• Persian: خیرات‎ (fa) (xeyrât), صدقه‎ (fa) (sadaqe)
• Polish: pomoc charytatywna f, dary m pl
• Portuguese: caridade (pt) f
• Russian: благотвори́тельность (ru) f (blagotvorítelʹnostʹ), (handout, alms) ми́лостыня (ru) f (mílostynja)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: dobrodavanje, dobrodavati

• Tagalog: kawang-gawa
• Ukrainian: ми́лостиня f (mýlostynja)

organization

• Afrikaans: welwillendheidsorganisasie
• Arabic: مُنَظَّمَة خَيْرِيَّة‎ f (munaẓẓama(t) ḵayriyya)
• Bashkir: хәйриә (xäyriä)
• Bulgarian: благотвори́телна организа́ция f (blagotvorítelna organizácija)
• Catalan: organització caritativa f, organització benèfica f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 慈善機構 (zh), 慈善机构 (zh) (císhàn jīgòu)

• Czech: charita (cs) f
• Dutch: liefdadigheidsinstelling (nl) f, goed doel n
• Esperanto: karitata organizaĵo
• Finnish: hyväntekeväisyysjärjestö
• French: ^{(please verify)} organisme de charité m
• German: Wohltätigkeitsorganisation f, Charity (de) f
• Greek: φιλανθρωπικό ίδρυμα n (filanthropikó ídryma)
• Icelandic: góðgerðarstofnun f
• Irish: carthanacht f
• Italian: ente di beneficenza m, organizzazione benefica f, onlus
• Macedonian: добротво́рна организа́ција f (dobrotvórna organizácija)
• Polish: organizacja charytatywna f, instytucja charytatywna f
• Portuguese: instituição de caridade f
• Russian: благотвори́тельное о́бщество n (blagotvorítelʹnoje óbščestvo), благотвори́тельная организа́ция f (blagotvorítelʹnaja organizácija), (asylum) богаде́льня (ru) f (bogadélʹnja), благотвори́тельный фонд m (blagotvorítelʹnyj fond)
• Slovak: charita (sk) f
• Spanish: entidad benéfica f, organización benéfica f
• Swedish: välgörenhetsorganisation c

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} దానము (te) (dānamu), ^{(please verify)} ధర్మము (te) (dharmamu)

Further reading

• "charity" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 54.

Anagrams

• chytrai