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charity

   Also found in: Legal, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.03 sec.
char·i·ty  (chr-t)
n. pl. char·i·ties
1. Provision of help or relief to the poor; almsgiving.
2. Something given to help the needy; alms.
3. An institution, organization, or fund established to help the needy.
4. Benevolence or generosity toward others or toward humanity.
5. Indulgence or forbearance in judging others. See Synonyms at mercy.
6. often Charity Christianity The theological virtue defined as love directed first toward God but also toward oneself and one's neighbors as objects of God's love.

[Middle English charite, from Old French, Christian love, from Latin crits, affection, from crus, dear; see k- in Indo-European roots.]

charity
Noun
1. pl -ties an organization set up to provide help to those in need
2. the giving of help, such as money or food, to those in need
3. help given to those in need; alms
4. a kindly attitude towards people [Latin caritas affection]

Charity
See also love; poverty.

pertaining to charity or alms-giving.
voluntary activity of or disposition towards donating money, property, or services to the needy or for general social betterment. — philanthropic, adj.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.charitycharity - a foundation created to promote the public good (not for assistance to any particular individuals)
foundation - an institution supported by an endowment
philanthropic foundation - a foundation that provides funds for science or art or education or religion or relief from disease etc.
private foundation - a charity that does not receive a major part of its support from the public
public charity - a charity that is deemed to receive the major part of its support from the public (rather than from a small group of individuals)
2.charity - a kindly and lenient attitude toward people
benevolence - an inclination to do kind or charitable acts
supernatural virtue, theological virtue - according to Christian ethics: one of the three virtues (faith, hope, and charity) created by God to round out the natural virtues
3.charity - an activity or gift that benefits the public at large
giving, gift - the act of giving
handout - giving money or food or clothing to a needy person
zakat - the fourth pillar of Islam is almsgiving as an act of worship; "the zakat is earmarked for the poor and disabled"
4.charitycharity - pinnate-leaved European perennial having bright blue or white flowers
polemonium - any plant of the genus Polemonium; most are low-growing often foul-smelling plants of temperate to Arctic regions
5.charity - an institution set up to provide help to the needy
institution, establishment - an organization founded and united for a specific purpose
community chest - a charity supported by individual subscriptions; defrays the demands on a community for social welfare
soup kitchen - a place where food is dispensed to the needy

charity
noun 1. charitable organization, fund, movement, trust, endowment
noun 2. donations, help, relief, gift, contributions, assistance, hand-out, philanthropy, alms-giving, benefaction, largesse or largess, koha N.Z. << OPPOSITE meanness
Translations
Spanish charity [ˈtʃærɪtɪ] n (gen) → caridad f (= organization); organización f benéfica
French charity [ˈtʃærɪtɪ] ncharité f (= organization); institution f charitable or de bienfaisance, œuvre f (de charité)
German charity [ˈtʃærɪtɪ] n (organization) → karitative Organisation f, Wohltätigkeitsverein m;
(kindness, generosity) → Menschenfreundlichkeit f;
(money, gifts) → Almosen nt

Italian charity [ˈtʃærɪtɪ] ncarità;
(organization) → opera pia

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Never did any woman better deserve her name, which was Charity --Aunt Charity, as everybody called her.
Well, from early morning till dewy eve, when she had it out of him in the cold tub before putting him to bed, Charity and Tom were pitted against one another.
In the privacy of a four-wheeler, on her way to a charity cottage (one of a row) which by the exiguity of its dimensions and the simplicity of its accommodation, might well have been devised in kindness as a place of training for the still more straitened circumstances of the grave, she was forced to hid from her own child a blush of remorse and shame.
 
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