eleemosynary

adjective

el·​ee·​mo·​sy·​nary ˌe-li-ˈmä-sə-ˌner-ē 

-ˈmō-;

-ˈmä-zə-

: of, relating to, or supported by charity

Did you know?

A grammarian once asserted in reference to eleemosynary that "a long and learned word like this should only be used under the stress of great need." Whether or not you agree with such prescriptions, the word eleemosynary isn't exactly ubiquitous. Its tricky spelling doesn’t do it any favors—though this wasn’t always the case. The good people of early England had mercy on themselves when it came to spelling and shortened the root of eleemosynary, the Latin eleemosyna, to ælmes, which they used to mean "charity." (You may be more familiar with alms, an ælmes derivative that refers to food, money, etc., given to the poor.) The original Latin root, however, was resurrected in the early 17th century to give us our modern conundrum of a spelling.

Synonyms

• philanthropic
• charitable
• humanitarian
• philanthropical

Examples of eleemosynary in a Sentence

used his vast fortune for establishing and funding a host of eleemosynary institutions

Recent Examples on the Web

Grace LeBay plays a precocious teenage granddaughter, Echo, who is a National Spelling Bee champ, winning with the word eleemosynary, from where the play gets its title. —Joan Rusek, cleveland.com, 5 Aug. 2017

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Late Latin eleēmosynārius, from eleēmosyna "charitable gift, act of charity" (borrowed from Greek eleēmosýnē "pity, act of kindness, alms," from eleḗmōn "compassionate" —adjective derivative of eleeîn "to take pity on," derivative of éleos "pity, compassion," of uncertain origin— + -synē, abstract noun suffix) + Latin -ārius -ary entry 2

First Known Use

circa 1616, in the meaning defined above

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Legal Definition

eleemosynary

adjective

elee·​mo·​sy·​nary ˌe-li-ˈmäs-ᵊn-ˌer-ē, -ˈmōs-ᵊn-, -ˈmäz-ᵊn- 

: of, relating to, or supported by charity