charitable

English

Etymology

From Old French charitable.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃæɹɪtəbəl/
• (without the Mary–marry–merry merger, General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃæɹətəbəl/, [ˈt͡ʃæɹ(ə)ɾəbɫ̩]
• (Mary–marry–merry merger, General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃɛɹətəbəl/, [ˈt͡ʃɛɹ(ə)ɾəbɫ̩]

  • Audio (Southern California):

    (file)

• (Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃæɹɪtəbəl/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃɛɹətəbəl/

Adjective

charitable (comparative more charitable, superlative most charitable)

1. Pertaining to charity.
2. Kind, generous.
   • 1884, John Ruskin, “By the Rivers of Waters”, in “Our Fathers Have Told Us.”: Sketches of the History of Christendom for Boys and Girls who have been Held at Its Fonts, part I (The Bible of Amiens), Orpington, Kent: George Allen, →OCLC, pages 30–31:

     St. Martin [of Tours] looks round, first, deliberately;—becomes aware of a tatterdemalion and thirsty-looking soul of a beggar at his chair side, who has managed to get his cup filled somehow, also—by a charitable lacquey. St. Martin turns his back on the Empress, and hobnobs with him!

   • 2017 April 6, Samira Shackle, “On the frontline with Karachi’s ambulance drivers”, in the Guardian‎^[1]:

     Pakistan can sometimes be a cruel environment, its residents caught between the dual pressures of poverty and violence. Yet it is also a place of great kindness, with a strong culture of charitable giving.

3. Having a purpose or character of a charity.

Synonyms

• eleemosynary

Derived terms

• charitableness
• charitable organisation, charitable organization
• charitable purpose
• charitable trust
• charitably
• noncharitable
• overcharitable
• pseudocharitable
• uncharitable

Related terms

• principle of charity

Translations

pertaining to charity

• Armenian: բարեգործական (hy) (baregorcakan)
• Bulgarian: благотворителен (bg) (blagotvoritelen)
• Catalan: caritatiu (ca)
• Czech: dobročinný
• Finnish: hyväntekeväisyys- (fi)
• French: caritatif (fr)
• German: mildtätig (de), Wohltätigkeits-
• Hindi: पूर्त (hi) (pūrt)
• Hungarian: jótékonysági (hu)
• Italian: caritatevole (it), solidale (it)
• Macedonian: добротворен (dobrotvoren), милосрден (milosrden)
• Persian: خیریه (fa) (xeyriye)
• Polish: charytatyny
• Russian: благотвори́тельный (ru) (blagotvorítelʹnyj)
• Swedish: välgörenhets-, välgörande (sv)

kind, generous

• Bulgarian: щедър (bg) (štedăr)
• Catalan: caritatiu (ca)
• Dutch: weldadig (nl)
• Finnish: hyväntahtoinen (fi)
• Galician: caritativo
• German: wohltätig (de), großzügig (de)
• Irish: carthanach, Críostúil, déirceach, grádiaúil
• Italian: generoso (it)
• Ladino: sadikero
• Polish: miłosierny (pl), dobry (pl)
• Portuguese: caritativo (pt)
• Russian: милосе́рдный (ru) (milosérdnyj), ще́дрый (ru) (ščédryj)
• Spanish: caritativo (es)
• Tamil: வள்ளல் (ta) (vaḷḷal)
• Turkish: yardımsever (tr)

having a purpose or character of a charity — see also beneficient

• Armenian: բարեգործական (hy) (baregorcakan)
• Czech: dobročinný
• German: mildtätig (de)
• Italian: benefico (it)
• Polish: charytatywny (pl), dobroczynny (pl)
• Russian: благотвори́тельный (ru) (blagotvorítelʹnyj)
• Spanish: benéfico (es)

French

Etymology

From Old French charitable, from charité.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃa.ʁi.tabl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Adjective

charitable (plural charitables)

1. charitable

Related terms

• caritatif

Further reading

• “charitable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012