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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Charity \Char"i*ty\, noun; 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}.]
1. Love; universal benevolence; good will.
Now abideth faith, hope, charity, three; but the greatest of these is charity. --1. Cor. xiii. 13.
They, at least, are little to be envied, in whose hearts the great charities . . . lie dead. --Ruskin.
With malice towards none, with charity for all. --Lincoln.
2. Liberality in judging of men and their actions; a disposition which inclines men to put the best construction on the words and actions of others.
The highest exercise of charity is charity towards the uncharitable. --Buckminster.
3. Liberality to the poor and the suffering, to benevolent institutions, or to worthy causes; generosity.
The heathen poet, in commending the charity of Dido to the Trojans, spake like a Christian. --Dryden.
4. Whatever is bestowed gratuitously on the needy or suffering for their relief; alms; any act of kindness.
She did ill then to refuse her a charity. --L'Estrange.
5. A charitable institution, or a gift to create and support such an institution; as, Lady Margaret's charity.
6. pl. (Law) Eleemosynary appointments [grants or devises] including relief of the poor or friendless, education, religious culture, and public institutions.
The charities that soothe, and heal, and bless, Are scattered at the feet of man like flowers. --Wordsworth.
{Sisters of Charity} (R. C. Ch.), a sisterhood of religious women engaged in works of mercy, esp. in nursing the sick; -- a popular designation. There are various orders of the Sisters of Charity.
Syn: Love; benevolence; good will; affection; tenderness; beneficence; liberality; almsgiving. ||
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
charity
noun
1: a foundation created to promote the public good (not for assistance to any particular individuals)
2: a kindly and lenient attitude toward people [syn: {brotherly love}]
3: an activity or gift that benefits the public at large
4: pinnate-leaved European perennial having bright blue or white flowers [syn: {Jacob's ladder}, {Greek valerian}, {Polemonium caeruleum}, {Polemonium van-bruntiae}, {Polymonium caeruleum van-bruntiae}]
5: an institution set up to provide help to the needy
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
193 Moby Thesaurus words for "charity": Amor, BOMFOG, Benthamism, Christian charity, Christian love, Eros, Platonic love, abetment, accord, accordance, admiration, adoration, advocacy, aegis, affection, affinity, agape, agreement, alms, alms fee, almsgiving, altruism, amity, ardency, ardor, attachment, auspices, backing, benefaction, beneficence, benevolence, benevolent disposition, benevolentness, bigheartedness, bodily love, bonds of harmony, brotherly love, cardinal virtues, care, caritas, cement of friendship, championship, charitableness, clemency, collection, communion, community, community of interests, compassion, compatibility, concord, concordance, condonation, congeniality, conjugal love, considerateness, consideration, contribution, correspondence, countenance, desire, devotion, do-goodism, dole, donation, donative, easiness, empathy, encouragement, esprit, esprit de corps, faith, faithful love, fancy, favor, feeling of identity, fellow feeling, fellowship, fervor, flame, flower power, fondness, forbearance, fortitude, fosterage, free love, free-lovism, frictionlessness, friendliness, generosity, generousness, giving, good vibes, good vibrations, goodwill, grace, greatheartedness, guidance, handout, happy family, harmony, heart, hero worship, hope, humaneness, humanitarianism, humanity, identity, idolatry, idolism, idolization, indulgence, interest, justice, kindliness, kinship, largeheartedness, largesse, lasciviousness, lenience, leniency, lenity, liberality, libido, like, like-mindedness, liking, long-suffering, love, love of mankind, lovemaking, magnanimity, married love, munificence, mutuality, natural virtues, offering, offertory, oneness, passion, patience, patronage, peace, permissiveness, philanthropism, philanthropy, physical love, pittance, popular regard, popularity, prudence, rapport, rapprochement, reciprocity, regard, relief, seconding, sentiment, sex, sexual love, sharing, shine, solidarity, spiritual love, sponsorship, subscription, supernatural virtues, sympathy, symphony, team spirit, temperance, tender feeling, tender passion, theological virtues, tithe, tolerance, toleration, truelove, tutelage, understanding, union, unison, unity, unselfishness, utilitarianism, uxoriousness, votive offering, weakness, welfare, welfarism, well-disposedness, worship, yearning
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:
CHARITY A {functional language} based purely on {category theory} by Cockett, Spencer, and Fukushima, 1990-1991. A version for {Sun-4} is available from Tom Fukushima . ["About Charity", J.R.B. Cockett, U. Calgary, Canada, et al]. (2000-10-30)
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:
Charity (1 Cor. 13), the rendering in the Authorized Version of the word which properly denotes love, and is frequently so rendered (always so in the Revised Version). It is spoken of as the greatest of the three Christian graces (1 Cor. 12:31-13:13).
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