gift

play

noun \ ˈgift \

Definition of gift

1 :a notable capacity, talent, or endowment

2 :something voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation

3 :the act, right, or power of giving

See gift defined for English-language learners

See gift defined for kids

Examples of gift in a Sentence

The money was a gift, not a loan.
She considers her voice a God-given gift.

Recent Examples of gift from the Web

The club is also donating 10 percent of the revenue from all merchandise sold at the Magestic Grand Slam gift shop and all park merchandise locations, along with 10 percent of all concession revenue during the three-game series.

— stefan stevenson, star-telegram, "Rangers donating portion of ticket sales, concessions to storm relief," 30 Aug. 2017
The popcorn company, which also sells candies, nuts and gift baskets, originated in Geneva and opened its Naperville location in 2003.

— erin hegarty, Naperville Sun, "More frozen treats, clothing store options arriving in Naperville," 26 Aug. 2017
June gave us so many gifts, some directly, some by example.

— rosanne cash, Country Living, "Rosanne Cash Reflects on What June Carter Was Like as a Stepmother," 25 Aug. 2017
Houseparty’s main demographic—and offered them $275 Amazon gift cards for their time.

— maya kosoff, The Hive, "Facebook Is Facing a Demographic Time Bomb," 22 Aug. 2017
Lewis also distinguished himself after the break, revealing a serious side as unexpected as Martin's gift for comedy.

— lindsey bahr, Esquire, "Jerry Lewis, Comedy Legend and Tireless Telethon Host, Dies at 91," 20 Aug. 2017
Kevin donated plasma to buy birthday gifts for Lawrence and Peyton, but the stress spiked his blood pressure so high that the donation centers turned him away.

— alden woods, azcentral, "$200 from home: Renters in the housing crisis are often stuck between help and affordability," 17 Aug. 2017
Most recently, the Duchess of Cambridge wore the diamond and pearl Cambridge Lover’s Knot tiara, which Di received as a wedding gift, to a state banquet in honor of King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain, who visited the British royals in July.

— andrea park, Glamour, "The Real Reason Princess Diana Wore Two Watches," 17 Aug. 2017
Prepare to have your mind blown: The concept behind the cupcakes was to create a gift that looks beautiful and can be delivered (like flowers) but doesn't eventually die.

— danielle tullo, Cosmopolitan, "These Beautiful Flowers Are Actually Cupcakes," 16 Aug. 2017

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

Origin and Etymology of gift

Middle English, from Old Norse, something given, talent; akin to Old English giefan to give

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 12th century

See Words from the same year

gift Synonyms

Synonyms

bestowal, comp, donation, donative, fairing [British], freebie (or freebee), giveaway, handsel, lagniappe, largesse (also largess), present, presentation

Related Words

alms, benefaction, beneficence, benevolence, charity, contribution, dole, handout, oblation, offering, philanthropy, tithe; box [British], care package, foy [chiefly Scottish]; grant, subsidy; remembrance, tribute, valentine; bonus, boon, windfall; courtesy, favor, generosity, sacrifice; gratuity, propine [Scottish], tip; award, prize, reward; dowry; bequest, legacy

Near Antonyms

advance, loan; bribe, douceur, peace offering, sop

Synonym Discussion of gift

gift, faculty, aptitude, bent, talent, genius, knack mean a special ability for doing something. gift often implies special favor by God or nature.

- the gift of singing beautifully

faculty applies to an innate or less often acquired ability for a particular accomplishment or function.

- a faculty for remembering names

aptitude implies a natural liking for some activity and the likelihood of success in it.

- a mechanical aptitude

bent is nearly equal to aptitude but it stresses inclination perhaps more than specific ability.

- a family with an artistic bent

talent suggests a marked natural ability that needs to be developed.

- has enough talent to succeed

genius suggests impressive inborn creative ability.

- has no great genius for poetry

knack implies a comparatively minor but special ability making for ease and dexterity in performance.

- the knack of getting along

gift

verb

Definition of gift

transitive verb

1 :to endow with some power, quality, or attribute

She's been gifted with a beautiful voice.

2 a :to make a gift of

It makes an excellent choice whether you're gifting one bottle for the honeymoon or a case to be savored for years, or even decades, to come.
—Robert Taylor

b :present

gifted her with flowers

In this, her ninth novel, she has succeeded in gifting us with a story that will stay with us for a long time.
—Dorothy Rochmis

—

giftee

play \ˌgif-ˈtē\ noun

See gift defined for English-language learners

Examples of gift in a Sentence

gifted with an uncanny ability to persuade people to do things they ordinarily wouldn't

Recent Examples of gift from the Web

It was gifted by Mussolini in 1934 to commemorate the one-year anniversary of General Italo Balbo leading an armada of Italian planes on trans-Atlantic flight from Rome to Chicago for the Century of Progress World's Fair.

— tony briscoe, chicagotribune.com, "Protesters want Balbo monument in Chicago removed," 23 Aug. 2017
And of course, there were the red and black robes gifted to the USA players and coaches in lieu of gold medals.

— danielle lerner, The Courier-Journal, "U of L's Jeff Walz and Asia Durr recap trip to Tokyo with USA Basketball," 21 Aug. 2017
Mark creates and presents in-depth, tax-efficient cash-flow analyses, tax strategies, retirement planning projections and probabilities, gifting strategies, and estate planning concepts for clients.

— kansascity, "Do you know about the 2017 Kansas income tax rate changes?," 18 Aug. 2017
Cozart was gifted the donkey by Joey Votto for making the National League All-Star team.

— tom groeschen, Cincinnati.com, "Reds Notes: Talking Mesoraco, Cozart and ... the donkey," 5 Aug. 2017
Musk himself, who explained that Ira Ehrenpreis, a Tesla board member who placed the first deposit on the Model 3 and thus had the right to purchase the car, had gifted the opportunity to Musk as a 46th birthday present.

— joseph capparella, Car and Driver, "Tesla Model 3: Elon Musk Shares Photos of the First Production Example," 10 July 2017
That’s a shocking toll from an effort that is essentially aimed at gifting the wealthiest Americans with hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts by slashing healthcare.

— michael hiltzik, chicagotribune.com, "How many people will die from the Republicans' Obamacare repeal bills? Tens of thousands per year," 27 June 2017
According to TMZ, Kiki just purchased a gold Cartier watch that Prince Stanislaw Radziwill gifted to his sister-in-law and former first lady, Jackie Kennedy.

— laura beck, Cosmopolitan, "Kim Kardashian Reportedly Just Bought Jackie Kennedy's Old Watch for $379,500," 23 June 2017
The group of sellers, led by Tom Musselman, gifted an additional $1.85 million of equity in the course to the foundation, bringing the total acquisition price to the $5.85 million listed in the audit.

— steve jones, The Courier-Journal, "Louisville athletics budget chief: Audit overplayed department's reliance on foundation," 23 June 2017

Origin and Etymology of gift

see ¹gift

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1550

See Words from the same year

gift Synonyms

Synonyms

bless, endue (or indue), favor, endow, invest

Related Words

equip, provide, supply; bestow (on or upon), clothe, confer (on), cover; accord, award, grant; empower, enable, enhance, enrich, heighten; bequeath, will

Near Antonyms

dispossess, divest, strip; deplete, drain, exhaust; skimp, stint

GIFT

abbreviation

Definition of GIFT

gamete intrafallopian transfer; gamete intrafallopian tube transfer

GIFT Defined for English Language Learners

gift

play

noun

Definition of gift for English Language Learners

: something that is given to another person or to a group or organization
: a special ability

gift

verb

Definition of gift for English Language Learners

: to present (someone) with a gift

GIFT Defined for Kids

gift

play

noun \ ˈgift \

Definition of gift for Students

1 :a special ability :talent

a gift for music

2 :something given :present

I gave my mother her birthday gift.

Medical Dictionary

GIFT

abbreviation

medical Definition of GIFT

gamete intrafallopian transfer; gamete intrafallopian tube transfer

Law Dictionary

gift

noun

legal Definition of gift

1 :an intentional and gratuitous transfer of real or personal property by a donor with legal capacity who actually or constructively delivers the property to the donee with the intent of giving up dominion over the property and investing it in the donee who accepts it; broadly :a voluntary transfer of property without compensation — see also delivery — compare donation, sale

— class gift

:a usually testamentary gift of a sum to a group of unspecified persons whose number and identity and share of the gift will be determined sometime in the future (as at the death of the donor)

— completed gift

:a gift in which the dominion and control of the property is placed beyond the donor's reach

— gift causa mortis \-ˈkȯ-zə-ˈmȯr-tis, -ˈkau̇-sä-ˈmȯr-tēs\ plural gifts causa mortis

:a gift of especially personal property made in contemplation of impending death that is delivered with the intent that the gift take effect only in the event of the donor's death and that it be revoked in the event of survival — compare donation inter vivos and donation mortis causa at donation, gift inter vivos and testamentary gift in this entry

— gift inter vivos \-ˈin-tər-ˈvī-vōs; -ˈin-ter-ˈvē-vōs, -ˈwē-wōs\ plural gifts inter vivos

:a gift made during the lifetime of the donor and delivered with the intent of surrendering immediately and irrevocably dominion and control over the property — compare donation inter vivos at donation, gift causa mortis and testamentary gift in this entry

— gift over plural gifts over

:a gift especially by will of property that takes effect upon the termination or failure of a preceding estate (as a life estate) in the property

— manual gift

:a gift especially under the civil law of Louisiana made of a movable corporeal object by actual delivery and involving no formalities

— split gift

:a gift made by a spouse to a third person that for purposes of gift tax may be considered as given one-half by each spouse to take advantage of tax avoidance devices (as the annual exclusion)

— substitutional gift \ˌsəb-stə-ˈtü-shə-nəl-, -ˈtyü-\

:a gift to a legatee or devisee in substitution for another devisee or legatee who cannot take under the will (as because of death) — called also substitute gift

— testamentary gift

:a gift that does not become effective until the death of the donor; specifically :a gift made in a will — compare gift causa mortis and gift inter vivos in this entry

2 :something voluntarily transferred without compensation

3 :a transfer of property for less than adequate consideration other than in the ordinary course of business —used in the law of gift tax

Note: The amount by which the value of property so transferred exceeds the consideration paid is included in the total amount of taxable gifts made during a calendar year.