Eleemosynary
adj, noun ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A beggar obsolete
- 1 Relating to charity, alms, or almsgiving.
"I am bound to say he didn't criticise his benefactors, though practically he got tired of them; she, however, had the highest standards about eleemosynary forms."
- 2 Given in charity or alms; having the nature of alms
"An author ought to consider himself, not as a gentleman who gives a private or eleemosynary treat, but rather as one who keeps a public ordinary, at which all persons are welcome for their money."
- 3 Supported by charity
"... it is also true that the policy of nations, or the bounty of individuals, formerly did much to counteract the effect of this limitation of competition, by offering eleemosynary instruction to a much larger class of persons than could have obtained the same advantages by paying their price."
- 1 generous in assistance to the poor wordnet
Example
More examples"I am bound to say he didn't criticise his benefactors, though practically he got tired of them; she, however, had the highest standards about eleemosynary forms."
Etymology
From Medieval Latin eleēmosynārius (“alms dispenser”), from Late Latin eleēmosyna (“alms”), from Ancient Greek ἐλεημοσύνη (eleēmosúnē, “alms”), from ἐλεήμων (eleḗmōn, “merciful”) + -σῠ́νη (-sŭ́nē, “suffix denoting an abstract noun”). Compare Italian elemosina.
Related phrases
More for "eleemosynary"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.