Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The obligatory contribution of a certain portion of one's wealth in support of the poor or needy or for other charitable purposes, considered as one of the duties of Islamic religious practice.
  • noun The amount owed or contributed for these purposes.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Islam almsgiving, one of the five pillars of Islam

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the fourth pillar of Islam is almsgiving as an act of worship

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Arabic zakāt, zakāh, purity, justness, alms, from Aramaic zākutā, innocence, justification, meritorious deed, from zəkā, to be innocent, be worthy, give alms, from Canaanite zākā or Akkadian zakû, to be pure, become pure, innocent; see ḏkw in Semitic roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Arabic زكاة, from Qur'anic Arabic زكوة.

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