charity

charity
charity (n.) mid-12c., "benevolence for the poor," from O.Fr. charité (O.N.Fr. carité), from L. caritatem (nom. caritas) "costliness, esteem, affection" (in Vulgate often used as translation of Gk. agape "love" -- especially Christian love of fellow man -- perhaps to avoid the sexual suggestion of L. amor), from carus "dear, valued," from PIE *karo-, from root *ka- "to like, desire" (see WHORE (Cf. whore)). Vulgate also sometimes translated agape by L. dilectio, noun of action from diligere "to esteem highly, to love" (see DILIGENCE (Cf. diligence)).
Wyclif and the Rhemish version regularly rendered the Vulgate dilectio by 'love,' caritas by 'charity.' But the 16th c. Eng. versions from Tindale to 1611, while rendering agape sometimes 'love,' sometimes 'charity,' did not follow the dilectio and caritas of the Vulgate, but used 'love' more often (about 86 times), confining 'charity' to 26 passages in the Pauline and certain of the Catholic Epistles (not in I John), and the Apocalypse .... In the Revised Version 1881, 'love' has been substituted in all these instances, so that it now stands as the uniform rendering of agape. [OED]

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • Charity — Char i*ty, n.; pl. {Charities}. [F. charit[ e] fr. L. caritas dearness, high regard, love, from carus dear, costly, loved; asin to Skr. kam to wish, love, cf. Ir. cara a friend, W. caru to love. Cf. {Caress}.] [1913 Webster] 1. Love; universal… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • charity — char‧i‧ty [ˈtʆærti] noun charities PLURALFORM 1. [countable] an organization that collects money to help people, for example those who are sick or poor, or to help certain types of activity such as artistic activity ; =NOT FOR PROFIT… …   Financial and business terms

  • charity — char·i·ty n pl ties: a gift for humanitarian, philanthropic, or other purposes beneficial to the public (as maintaining a public building); also: an institution (as a hospital or school) or organization founded by such a gift compare private… …   Law dictionary

  • charity — 1 *mercy, clemency, grace, lenity Analogous words: love, affection, *attachment: benevolence, humaneness, altruism (see corresponding adjectives at CHARITABLE): benignity, benignancy, kindness, kindliness (see corresponding adjectives at KIND):… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • Charity — Charity …   Wikipedia Español

  • Charity — f English: from the vocabulary word, denoting originally the Christian s love for his fellow man (Latin caritās, from carus dear). In spite of St Paul s words ‘and now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is… …   First names dictionary

  • charity — ► NOUN (pl. charities) 1) an organization set up to help those in need. 2) the voluntary giving of money or other help to those in need. 3) help or money given in this way. 4) tolerance in judging others. ● charity begins at home Cf. ↑ …   English terms dictionary

  • charity — [n1] generosity, gift alms, alms giving, assistance, benefaction, beneficence, contribution, dole, donation, endowment, fund, gifting, hand*, hand out, helping hand*, largesse, oblation, offering, philanthropy, relief, write off; concepts 337,657 …   New thesaurus

  • Charity — [char′i tē] n. [see CHARITY] a feminine name …   English World dictionary

  • charity — /ˈtʃariti, ingl. ˈtʃærɪtɪ/ [vc. ingl., propr. «carità, beneficenza»] s. f. inv. 1. evento benefico 2. ente benefico, fondazione, onlus …   Sinonimi e Contrari. Terza edizione

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