charity
noun
- voluntary giving help to those who need it
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈtʃæɹɪti/ / /ˈt͡ʃɛɹəti/ / [ˈt͡ʃɛɹəɾi]
name
Etymology: 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.
- A female given name from English.
“By Gis and by Saint Charity, / Alack, and fie for shame!”
“Never did any woman better deserve her name, which was Charity — Aunt Charity, as everybody called her. And like a sister of charity did this charitable Aunt Charity bustle about hither and thither, ready to turn her hand and heart to anything that promised to yield safety, comfort, and consolation to all on board a ship in which her beloved brother Bildad was concerned, and in which she herself owned a score or two of well-saved dollars.”
- The 107th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.
noun
Etymology: From Middle English charite, from Old French charité, cherte, chariteit, cariteit, from Latin cāritās. * The Tyndale Bible uses native English love instead.
- An organization, the objective of which is to carry out a charitable purpose.
“‘[…] 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”.[…]’.”
“The event raised money for local charities.”
- The goods or money given to those in need.
- Benevolence to the less fortunate; the providing of goods or money to those in need.
“act of charity”
- 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.”
“You go fuck yourself. You think I'm in this for charity?”
- Christian love; representing God's love of man, man's love of God, or man's love of his fellow-men.
“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.”
- A free throw.