Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “charity” come from?

Charity comes from Middle English charite, from Old French charité, from Latin caritas (abstract noun formed with the suffix -tas from kāro-, meaning "dear" or "precious"), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European keh₂ros with the adjective-forming suffix -tós.

charity (English): An organization, the objective of which is to...

Definitions

  1. An organization, the objective of which is to...

Ancestry of “charity”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishcharite—
2Old Frenchcharitégenerosity; sense of charity; charitable...
3Latincāritās—
4Latin-tās—
5Proto-Indo-European-teh₂tsUsed to form nouns representing state of being
6Proto-Indo-European-teh₂Used to form nouns representing state of being
7Proto-Indo-European-tósCreates verbal adjectives from verb stems

Words derived from “charity”

  • Charity
  • uncharity
  • charityware
  • anticharity
  • charitarian
  • metacharity
  • Charity
  • Charity
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tós →