Altruism Has Roots in Latin and French

Altruism refers to a quality possessed by people whose focus is on something other than themselves, and its root reveals the object of those generous tendencies. Altruism derives from the French word autrui, meaning "other people." Autrui, in turn, developed from the Old French term autre, which means "other" and which itself comes from Latin alter, also meaning "other." That Latin source eventually caused a curious thing to happen. Under the influence of alter, the French autrui gave rise to the altrui- of both the French altruisme and the English altruism. The English term has been in service since at least the mid-1800s.

Examples of altruism in a Sentence

A few skimpy corporate pensions were paid, but they were offered as much as departure incentives designed to promote business efficiency as expressions of altruism. — W. Andrew Achenbaum, Wilson Quarterly, Spring 2006 Mary may have ample resources and prefer that her share pass to her children who have greater need and are in lower income tax brackets. (The progressive nature of our tax laws often fosters such altruism among family members.) — William M. McGovern, Jr. et al., Wills, Trusts and Estates, 1988 And he still chokes up when he tells the story. Even at that young age, he understood that what his aunt was doing for him was the purest act of altruism. — Gail Sheehy, New York Times Magazine, 20 Apr. 1986

Recent Examples on the Web If the chimpanzees believe the bugs to be medicinal, this would make their application by others a form of caretaking, and a sign of altruism. — Maddie Bender, Wired, 8 Mar. 2022 Igor Kurganov, a former pro poker player who Musk brought on board to help manage his charitable giving, is highly involved in the world of effective altruism, according to Bloomberg. — Time, 16 Feb. 2022 And selfishly, altruism has a direct impact on our own fulfillment, mental health, and satisfaction. — Brent Gleeson, Forbes, 22 Sep. 2021 Because the chimps sometimes use bugs to treat their friends' wounds too, the behavior may be a sign of altruism in species, according to the study published Monday in Current Biology. — Corryn Wetzel, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Feb. 2022 In addition to promoting their own products, some distilleries have stepped up their altruism as well, seemingly in response to current events over the past few years as much as their innate moral compass. — Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 22 Oct. 2021 Before long, a time-old debate reasserts itself: Does altruism really exist? — Los Angeles Times, 6 Jan. 2022 Based on data about many species, Wilson argued that social behaviors from warfare to altruism had a genetic basis, an idea that contradicted the prevailing view that cultural and environmental factors determined human behavior. — NBC News, 27 Dec. 2021 The Cossitt branch will function as a place to eat, learn, exercise, run a business, make art and meet people, driven entirely by altruism. — Richard Grant, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 Oct. 2021 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'altruism.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.