Charity

//ˈtʃæɹɪti// name, noun, slang

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A female given name from English.

    "By Gis and by Saint Charity, / Alack, and fie for shame!"

  2. 2
    The 107th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.
Noun
  1. 1
    An organization, the objective of which is to carry out a charitable purpose. countable

    "‘[…] 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. 2
    an activity or gift that benefits the public at large wordnet
  3. 3
    The goods or money given to those in need. countable
  4. 4
    a kindly and lenient attitude toward people wordnet
  5. 5
    Benevolence to others less fortunate than ourselves; the providing of goods or money to those in need. uncountable

    "act of charity"

Show 6 more definitions
  1. 6
    an institution set up to provide help to the needy wordnet
  2. 7
    In general, an attitude of kindness and understanding towards others, now especially suggesting generosity. countable, uncountable

    "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."

  3. 8
    a foundation created to promote the public good (not for assistance to any particular individuals) wordnet
  4. 9
    Christian love; representing God's love of man, man's love of God, or man's love of his fellow-men. archaic, countable, uncountable

    "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."

  5. 10
    pinnate-leaved European perennial having bright blue or white flowers wordnet
  6. 11
    A free throw. Philippines, US, countable, informal, uncountable

Etymology

Etymology 1

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

Etymology 2

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.

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