• n. 慈善；施舍；慈善團體；寬容；施舍物

來自PIE*karo, 珍愛，愛，詞源同caress, whore. 后指對窮人的仁愛或善舉。

charity (n.)

mid-12c., "benevolence for the poor," from Old French charité "(Christian) charity, mercy, compassion; alms; charitable foundation" (12c., Old North French carité), from Latin caritatem (nominative caritas) "costliness, esteem, affection" (in Vulgate often used as translation of Greek agape "love" -- especially Christian love of fellow man -- perhaps to avoid the sexual suggestion of Latin amor), from carus "dear, valued," from PIE *karo-, from root *ka- "to like, desire" (see whore (n.)).

Vulgate also sometimes translated agape by Latin dilectio, noun of action from diligere "to esteem highly, to love" (see diligence).

Wyclif and the Rhemish version regularly rendered the Vulgate dilectio by 'love,' caritas by 'charity.' But the 16th c. Eng. versions from Tindale to 1611, while rendering agape sometimes 'love,' sometimes 'charity,' did not follow the dilectio and caritas of the Vulgate, but used 'love' more often (about 86 times), confining 'charity' to 26 passages in the Pauline and certain of the Catholic Epistles (not in I John), and the Apocalypse .... In the Revised Version 1881, 'love' has been substituted in all these instances, so that it now stands as the uniform rendering of agape. [OED]

Sense of "charitable foundation or institution" in English attested by 1690s.

1. Mr Dudley has pledged to give any award to charity.

達德利先生已承諾將任何所獲的損害賠償額都捐給慈善機構。

來自柯林斯例句

2. The magistrates granted that the charity was justified in bringing the action.

地方法官承認該慈善機構有理由提起訴訟。

來自柯林斯例句

3. The organisers hope to raise as much as ￡6m for charity.

組織者希望能募集到高達600萬英鎊的善款。

來自柯林斯例句

4. Every year we have charity days to raise money for unfortunate people.

每年我們都有慈善日來籌款幫助貧困人群。

來自柯林斯例句

5. The charity says it wants a withdrawal of the comments.

該慈善機構稱希望收回所作評論。

來自柯林斯例句