Etymologically
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charitable

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 14:48. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈtʃær.ɪ.tə.bəl/, US /ˈtʃer.ɪ.t̬ə.bəl/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English charitable, borrowed from Old French charitable, from charité (“charity”) (see charity).[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Showing Christian love of God and man: about 1200 in Etymonline, 1340 in the OED.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Tender-hearted or kindly is an obsolete sense of about 1386.[5] Generous to the poor is from about 1400,[2][5] and connected with an object of charity, as a charitable trust, from 1597.[5] Inclined to judge others favourably is from the 1620s.[2][5]

Timeline

  • c. 1200 – showing Christian love.[2]
  • c. 1386 – kindly (obsolete).[5]
  • c. 1400 – generous to the poor.[2][5]
  • 1597 – devoted to charity.[5]
  • 1620s – lenient in judgement.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Generous in giving money or help to people in need.
  2. Kind or lenient in judging others.
  3. Of, for or concerned with charity: a charitable organization.

Word family

  • charitableness
  • charitably
  • noncharitable
  • overcharitable
  • pseudocharitable
  • uncharitable
  • charitable trust

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press