charity

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈtʃær.ɪ.ti/, /ˈtʃær.ə.ti/, US /ˈtʃer.ə.t̬i/, /ˈtʃær.ə.t̬i/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English charite, borrowed from Old French charité, earlier Old Northern French carité,^[2][3][4] from Latin cāritās (“costliness; esteem, affection”), from cārus “dear, valued”,^[2][3][5] from Proto-Indo-European *ka- (“to like, desire”).^[2][3] It is related to caress and cherish, and, more distantly, to whore.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Loving-kindness and almsgiving: 1137, as carited, in the Peterborough Chronicle, according to Barnhart.^[3][4] The OED has Christian love of God and one's neighbour from about 1175.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In the Vulgate caritas often translated Greek agápē “love”, and English Bibles from Tyndale to 1611 used both love and charity for it, until the Revised Version of 1881 used love throughout.^[2][6] The general sense of love, kindness or affection is from before 1225,^[6] and a lenient disposition in judging others from 1483.^[6] Giving to the poor came from the idea that helping the needy is part of Christian love,^[7] and a charitable foundation followed.^[2] Charity begins at home is a saying.^[7]

Timeline

• 1137 – carited, almsgiving.^[3]
• c. 1175 – Christian love.^[6]
• a. 1225 – kindness, affection.^[6]
• 1483 – leniency in judging others.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An organization that collects money to help people in need.
2. Help, especially money, given to the poor or sick.
3. Kindness and tolerance in judging others.
4. (Christianity) Love of God and of one's fellow human beings.

Word family

• charityless
• chugger
• Sister of Charity

Related words

• charitable
• caress
• cherish

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press