Word of the Day

: August 27, 2009

eleemosynary

adjective el-ih-MAH-suh-nair-ee

What It Means

: of, relating to, or supported by charity

eleemosynary in Context

"All politicians realize that senior citizens are the biggest contributors to eleemosynary causes … and are the most dependable source of volunteer hours for the public well-being." (Louis J. Finkle, The Biloxi Sun Herald [Mississippi], May 24, 2008)

Did You Know?

While you may not agree with the grammarian who asserted that "a long and learned word like this should only be used under the stress of great need," you might find that remembering how to spell "eleemosynary" makes you tend to use its synonym "charitable" instead. 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 as their word for "charity." (You may be more familiar with "alms," an "ælmes" derivative that came to denote food or money given to the poor.) The original Latin root was resurrected in the early 17th century to give us the spelling challenge of the adjective we feature today.