eleemosyna

Latin

Alternative forms

• elēmosina, elēmosyna, elīmosyna
• aelēmosina, helēmosina, aelēmosyna, helēmosyna (in inscriptions)

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐλεημοσύνη (eleēmosúnē).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /e.le.eːˈmo.sy.na/, [ɛɫ̪eːˈmɔs̠ʏnä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /e.le.eˈmo.si.na/, [eleːˈmɔːs̬inä]

Noun

eleēmosyna f (genitive eleēmosynae); first declension

1. alms
2. almshouse
3. pity, mercy

   Synonyms: misericordia, pietās

   Antonyms: ferōcitās, crūdēlitās, feritās, sevēritās

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	eleēmosyna	eleēmosynae
Genitive	eleēmosynae	eleēmosynārum
Dative	eleēmosynae	eleēmosynīs
Accusative	eleēmosynam	eleēmosynās
Ablative	eleēmosynā	eleēmosynīs
Vocative	eleēmosyna	eleēmosynae

Derived terms

• eleēmosynārius

 

Descendants

• Vulgar Latin: *alēmosyna (see there for further descendants)
• → Italian: elemosina
  • → Romanian: elemozină
• → Polish: elemozyna

Further reading

• “eleemosyna”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• eleemosyna in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• eleemosyna in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.