Definitions

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

  • adjective Generous in giving money or other help to the needy.
  • adjective Of, for, or concerned with charity: synonym: benevolent.
  • adjective Lenient or forbearing in judging others.
  • adjective Characterized by lenient or forbearing judgment.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Pertaining to or characterized by charity. Disposed to exhibit charity; disposed to supply the wants of others; benevolent and kind; beneficent.
  • Pertaining to almsgiving or relief of the poor; springing from charity, or intended for charity: as, a charitable enterprise; a charitable institution.
  • Lenient in judging of others; not harsh; favorable: as, a charitable judgment of one's conduct.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Full of love and good will; benevolent; kind.
  • adjective Liberal in judging of others; disposed to look on the best side, and to avoid harsh judgment.
  • adjective Liberal in benefactions to the poor; giving freely; generous; beneficent.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to charity; springing from, or intended for, charity; relating to almsgiving; eleemosynary.
  • adjective Dictated by kindness; favorable; lenient.

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

  • adjective Pertaining to charity.
  • adjective Kind, generous.
  • adjective Having a purpose or character of a charity.

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

  • adjective full of love and generosity
  • adjective relating to or characterized by charity
  • adjective showing or motivated by sympathy and understanding and generosity

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

charity +‎ -able

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Examples

  • The term charitable is used in its generally accepted legal sense and includes relief of the poor, the distressed, or the underprivileged; advancement of religion; advancement of education or science; erecting or maintaining public buildings, monuments, or works; lessening the burdens of government; lessening neighborhood tensions; eliminating prejudice and discrimination; defending human and civil rights secured by law; and combating community deterioration and juvenile delinquency.

    Latest Articles Austin Gun Rights Examiner 2009

  • I presume that, if you are willing to tout, through general publication, certain "charitable" organizations as "the best" in a particular region of Mexico that you are prepared to do your due diligence to assure potential contributors that funds contributed to a thus chosen organization will be expended in a manner entirely consistent with the goals of the contributor.

    Charity 2004

  • Amid grim reports about the significant decrease in charitable giving, ABC

    Consumer Reports Predicts Holiday Charity Boost (VIDEO) Lauren Sozio 2010

  • "The purpose of this letter is to request that information and documents needed for an investigation of certain charitable organizations be produced voluntarily as to avoid the need for a subpoena," the letter states, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post.

    D.C. Attorney General launches probe of council member Harry Thomas Tim Craig 2010

  • According to court filings, the foundation withdrew $290 million from the Ponzi scheme between 1995 and 2008, and made $160 million in charitable grants in the six years before Madoff's arrest.

    Madoff's Mystery Man Nathan Vardi 2010

  • Amid grim reports about the significant decrease in charitable giving, ABC's

    Consumer Reports Predicts Holiday Charity Boost (VIDEO) Lauren Sozio 2010

  • For example, The Salvation Army's iconic Red Kettle Campaign, which provides food, toys and clothing to the needy during Christmas, reached a new record in charitable gifts in 2008 that was up 10 percent from the year before.

    U.S. Is Feeling Charitable, Just Not Through Churches Josh Fleet 2010

  • Amid grim reports about the significant decrease in charitable giving, ABC's

    Consumer Reports Predicts Holiday Charity Boost (VIDEO) Lauren Sozio 2010

  • For example, The Salvation Army's iconic Red Kettle Campaign, which provides food, toys and clothing to the needy during Christmas, reached a new record in charitable gifts in 2008 that was up 10 percent from the year before.

    U.S. Is Feeling Charitable, Just Not Through Churches Josh Fleet 2010

  • Amid grim reports about the significant decrease in charitable giving, ABC's Good Morning America highlights a Consumer Reports study that reveals the opposite: this year's ...

    Consumer Reports Predicts Holiday Charity Boost (VIDEO) Lauren Sozio 2010

Comments

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  • When engaged in an argument or debate, it is important to remember to be charitable towards the other side.

    Donald Davidson said, "We make maximum sense of the words and thoughts of others when we interpret in a way that optimises agreement."

    March 15, 2007

  • In wordplay, to delete any letter to form other words: e.g., coops--> oops & cops & cops & coos & coop.

    --Chris Cole, Wordplay

    May 23, 2008

  • Actually, the definition's more restricted than that. A "charitable word" remains a word if any one of its letters is deleted (seat: sea, sat, set, eat).

    (See David Grambs, 1985, Literary Companion Dictionary: Words about Words, p. 84.)

    May 23, 2008