eleemosyna

Latin

Alternative forms

• elēmosina, elēmosyna, elīmosyna
• aelēmosina, helēmosina, aelēmosyna, helēmosyna (in inscriptions)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Ancient Greek ἔλεος (éleos)

Proto-Indo-European *-eti

Proto-Indo-European *-eyéti

Proto-Indo-European *-esyéti

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti

Proto-Indo-European *-yeti

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁yeti

Proto-Indo-European *-yeti

Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti

Ancient Greek -έω (-éō)

Ancient Greek ἐλεέω (eleéō)

Proto-Indo-European *-mṓ

Ancient Greek -μων (-mōn)

Ancient Greek ἐλεήμων (eleḗmōn)

Ancient Greek -συνος (-sunos)

Ancient Greek -σῠ́νη (-sŭ́nē)

Ancient Greek ἐλεημοσύνη (eleēmosúnē)bor.

Latin eleemosyna

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐλεημοσύνη (eleēmosúnē), from ἐλεήμων (eleḗmōn) + -σῠ́νη (-sŭ́nē).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ɛ.ɫe.eːˈmɔ.sy.na]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [e.le.eˈmɔː.s̬i.na]

Noun

eleēmosyna f (genitive eleēmosynae); first declension

1. alms
2. almshouse
3. pity, mercy

   Synonyms: misericordia, pietās

   Antonyms: ferōcitās, crūdēlitās, feritās, sevēritās

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	eleēmosyna	eleēmosynae
genitive	eleēmosynae	eleēmosynārum
dative	eleēmosynae	eleēmosynīs
accusative	eleēmosynam	eleēmosynās
ablative	eleēmosynā	eleēmosynīs
vocative	eleēmosyna	eleēmosynae

Derived terms

• eleēmosynārius

Descendants

• Vulgar Latin: *alēmosyna (see there for further descendants)
• Borrowings:
  • → Hungarian: elemózsia
  • → Italian: elemosina
    • → Romanian: elemozină
  • → Polish: elemozyna

Further reading

• “eleemosyna”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• "eleemosyna", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “eleemosyna”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.