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eleemosynary
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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See also: eleëmosynary
English
Alternative 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.
Pronunciation
Adjective
eleemosynary (comparative more eleemosynary, superlative most eleemosynary)
- Relating to charity, alms, or almsgiving.
- 1894, Henry James, The Coxon Fund:
- 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.
- 1918, Christopher Morley, “Owd Bob”, in Mince Pie:
- He did some work for the New York Public Library . . . and also dabbled in eleemosynary science for the Russell Sage Foundation.
- Given in charity or alms; having the nature of alms
- 1749, Henry Fielding, chapter I, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book I:
- 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.
- 1791, James Boswell, Life of Johnson, Aetat. 22:
- His spirited refusal of an eleemosynary supply of shoes, arose, no doubt, from a proper pride.
- 1892, Walt Whitman, “To the Pending Year”, in Leaves of Grass:
- Crouch low thy neck to eleemosynary gifts.
- Supported by charity
- 1871, John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy, p. 482:
- ... 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.
- 1959, Frank Chodorov, The Rise and Fall of Society, Devin-Adair, Chapter 14, page 143:
- [The Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution] set the State up as the largest eleemosynary institution in the history of the world.
- 1991 October 27, Washington Post:
- Amidst all this, the legal business, the acquiring of land, the construction of the Montgomery Block, Billings had generosity and time to support the founding of the University of California and a half dozen churches, schools, orphan asylums and other eleemosynary institutions.
Usage notes
A formal, literary word; in everyday use charitable is used instead.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
relating to charity
|
given in charity
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Noun
eleemosynary (plural eleemosynaries)
Related terms
- eleemosynate
- eleemosynous
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