Charity in Different Languages
Discover 'Charity' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
Charity, a term deeply rooted in generosity and compassion, holds immense significance across cultures and languages. Its essence, the act of giving voluntarily to those in need, has been a cornerstone of human empathy and kindness since time immemorial. The cultural importance of charity is evident in its myriad interpretations and practices worldwide.
Delving into the translations of charity in different languages unravels fascinating insights into how various cultures perceive and express this universal concept. For instance, the German word for charity, Charity, reflects its English counterpart, while the French translation, Charité, echoes a similar pronunciation. In Chinese, the term for charity, 慈善 (Císhàn), is a beautiful amalgamation of two characters - 慈 (Cí), which means love and kindness, and 善 (Shàn), which stands for good. Similarly, in Japanese, the word for charity, 慈善 (Jizen), embodies the same meaning.
Stay tuned to explore more translations of charity and deepen your understanding of this noble concept's global reach and cultural significance.
Charity
Charity in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | liefdadigheid | ||
| The word 'liefdadigheid' derives from the Dutch word 'liefde' ('love') and the suffix '-digheid' ('-ity'), thus literally meaning 'lovability' or 'the quality of being lovable'. | |||
| Amharic | ምጽዋት | ||
| The word "ምጽዋት" in Amharic is derived from the ancient Ge'ez word "წዋዕ", meaning "to offer", and denotes giving something freely out of goodwill | |||
| Hausa | sadaka | ||
| "Sadaka" is also a type of traditional Hausa music and dance. | |||
| Igbo | ọrụ ebere | ||
| The Igbo word " ọrụ ebere" ("charity ") originally meant "an act of kindness from a superior to an inferior". | |||
| Malagasy | fiantrana | ||
| The word "fiantrana" in Malagasy can also refer to "generosity", "kindness", or "hospitality". | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | zachifundo | ||
| The word "zachifundo" in Nyanja also means "mercy" or "pity". | |||
| Shona | rudo | ||
| The Shona word 'rudo' also means 'love' or 'kindness'. | |||
| Somali | sadaqo | ||
| "Sadaqo" is also used to refer to the money collected during a religious ceremony or event. | |||
| Sesotho | bolingani | ||
| 'Bolingani' is a compound word derived from the verb 'ho bola' (to ask) and the noun 'ngana' (lord). | |||
| Swahili | hisani | ||
| The Swahili word 'hisani' can also refer to a gift or present, and is related to the Arabic word 'ihsan' which means 'goodness' or 'righteousness'. | |||
| Xhosa | isisa | ||
| "Isisa" is etymologically related to the words for "to be pure" and "to be clean" in Xhosa. | |||
| Yoruba | alanu | ||
| The word "alanu" in Yoruba can also refer to a kind gesture or an act of kindness. | |||
| Zulu | isisa senhliziyo | ||
| The Zulu word 'isisa senhliziyo' literally means 'warmth of the chest' or 'heat of the stomach', emphasizing the emotional connection to acts of kindness. | |||
| Bambara | kànuya | ||
| Ewe | dɔmenyo | ||
| Kinyarwanda | imfashanyo | ||
| Lingala | kokabela babola | ||
| Luganda | okuyamba | ||
| Sepedi | lerato | ||
| Twi (Akan) | ahummɔborɔ | ||
Charity in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | الاعمال الخيرية | ||
| The word "الاعمال الخيرية" (al-a'mal al-khayriyya) literally means "the good deeds" in Arabic, and can refer to any kind of charitable act, not just financial donations. | |||
| Hebrew | צדקה | ||
| The Hebrew word "צדקה" also has the meanings of "justice" and "righteousness". | |||
| Pashto | خیرات | ||
| "خیرات" (charity) is the plural form of the Persian word "خیریت" (righteousness). | |||
| Arabic | الاعمال الخيرية | ||
| The word "الاعمال الخيرية" (al-a'mal al-khayriyya) literally means "the good deeds" in Arabic, and can refer to any kind of charitable act, not just financial donations. | |||
Charity in Western European Languages
| Albanian | bamirësi | ||
| The Albanian word "bamirësi" is derived from the Proto-Albanian word "*banmiorēsi", meaning "goodness" or "good deed". | |||
| Basque | karitatea | ||
| The Basque word for charity, "karitatea", is related to the word for love, "maitasuna", and the word for friend, "laguna". | |||
| Catalan | caritat | ||
| The term caritat is the Catalan for 'charity', deriving from the Latin caritas 'dearness, affection'. | |||
| Croatian | dobročinstvo | ||
| The word "dobročinstvo" originally meant "doing good" or "benefit" in Croatian. | |||
| Danish | velgørenhed | ||
| The word "velgørenhed" is derived from the Old Norse "vel" (well) and "gerning" (deed), and is cognate with the English word "well-doing". | |||
| Dutch | goed doel | ||
| The Dutch word "goed doel" literally means "good goal". | |||
| English | charity | ||
| The word "charity" derives from the Greek word "agapē," meaning "love" or "affection". | |||
| French | charité | ||
| The origin of the word 'charité' in French is the Latin 'caritas', which also gives us the word 'caro', meaning 'dear'. | |||
| Frisian | woldiedigens | ||
| Woldiedigens means "good deeds" which were expected to help someone get into heaven | |||
| Galician | caridade | ||
| In Galician, the word "caridade" can also refer to a gift or donation, or to a kind deed. | |||
| German | nächstenliebe | ||
| The German word 'Nächstenliebe' literally translated means 'neighboring love' | |||
| Icelandic | góðgerðarstarfsemi | ||
| Irish | carthanas | ||
| The word 'carthanas' in Irish derives ultimately from the Latin 'caritas', meaning 'love' or 'affection'. | |||
| Italian | beneficenza | ||
| The Italian word "beneficenza" comes from the Latin "beneficium," meaning "favor, kindness," and also "interest on a loan." | |||
| Luxembourgish | charity | ||
| It is related to "Chârité", a type of catholic relief organization, which is related to the Latin "caritas" meaning love. | |||
| Maltese | karità | ||
| The word "karità" in Maltese is derived from the Greek word "charitas", meaning "love" or "affection". | |||
| Norwegian | veldedighet | ||
| The word "veldedighet" in Norwegian is derived from the Old Norse word "véldáð" meaning "good deed". | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | caridade | ||
| The word "caridade" comes from the Latin word "caritas," which means love or affection. | |||
| Scots Gaelic | carthannas | ||
| The word 'carthannas' (charity) comes from the Old Irish word 'cara' meaning 'friend' and the Gaelic word 'tannas' meaning 'love'. | |||
| Spanish | caridad | ||
| The Spanish word "caridad" comes from the Latin word "caritas," which means "dearness" or "love." | |||
| Swedish | välgörenhet | ||
| "Välgörenhet" derives from "göra väl" or "do well," indicating a noble act that benefits others. | |||
| Welsh | elusen | ||
| The word "elusen" in Welsh is derived from the Latin word "eleemosyna," meaning "alms" or "charity." | |||
Charity in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | дабрачыннасць | ||
| Bosnian | dobrotvorne svrhe | ||
| The word "dobrotvorne svrhe" can also refer to "public benefit" or "non-profit". | |||
| Bulgarian | благотворителност | ||
| The Old Church Slavonic root blagodětь meant “good doing.” | |||
| Czech | charita | ||
| The Czech word "charita" comes from the Greek word "cháris" meaning "grace" or "gift." | |||
| Estonian | heategevus | ||
| Heategevus is derived from heategu, meaning 'good deed', and is related to the word heatahtlikkus, meaning 'benevolence'. | |||
| Finnish | hyväntekeväisyys | ||
| "Hyväntekeväisyys" shares its root with "hyvä" (good) and "teko" (deed). | |||
| Hungarian | adomány | ||
| The word "adomány" is derived from the verb "ad", meaning "to give", and originally meant "anything that is given for a good purpose, a gift". It also has a specialized meaning of "the act of giving money or other valuables to a religious institution or to the poor". | |||
| Latvian | labdarība | ||
| The word "labdarība" is derived from the Proto-Baltic root word "*labˀ-", meaning "good" or "kind". It is also related to the Lithuanian word "labdara", which has the same meaning. | |||
| Lithuanian | labdara | ||
| The term "labdara" derives from the Proto-Indo-European root "bher-", meaning "to bear", and has historical connotations of alms-giving and material assistance. | |||
| Macedonian | добротворни цели | ||
| The word "добротворни цели" (charity) is derived from the Old Church Slavonic word "доброта" (goodness) and the suffix "-творити" (to do). | |||
| Polish | dobroczynność | ||
| Dobroczynność, derived from "dobry" (good) and "czynić" (to do), implies an active goodness or benevolence. | |||
| Romanian | caritate | ||
| Caritate also refers to the gift given as a sign of charity to the poor, or the help provided to the needy. | |||
| Russian | благотворительная деятельность | ||
| The word "благотворительная деятельность" can also refer to philanthropy, which is the desire to promote the welfare of others. | |||
| Serbian | добротворне сврхе | ||
| The word "добротворне сврхе" also means "philanthropy" in Serbian. | |||
| Slovak | dobročinnosť | ||
| The Slovak word "dobročinnosť" is a combination of "dobro," meaning "good," and "činnosť," meaning "deed." | |||
| Slovenian | dobrodelnost | ||
| "Dobrodelnost" originates from the Slavic word "dobro," which also means "good" or "well," and the suffix "-delnost," which denotes a quality or state of being. Historically, it carried a broader meaning of "doing good" rather than solely material aid. | |||
| Ukrainian | благодійність | ||
| "Благодійність" comes from the Old Slavonic "blago" (good) and "дѣяти" (to do), meaning "doing good". | |||
Charity in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | দানশীলতা | ||
| In Sanskrit, the word "दानशीलता" is composed of two roots: "दा" (da) meaning "to give", and "शील" (śīla) meaning "character", implying the quality of being generous or charitable. | |||
| Gujarati | દાન | ||
| The Gujarati word 'દાન' (charity) can also refer to 'gift' or 'donation', and is derived from the Sanskrit word 'दाना' (gift). | |||
| Hindi | दान पुण्य | ||
| The word "daan puny" in Hindi is a compound of two words, "daan" and "punya," which respectively mean "gift" and "merit." | |||
| Kannada | ದಾನ | ||
| ದಾನ can alternately mean 'gift' or 'donation' and is derived from the Sanskrit root 'da' meaning 'to give'. | |||
| Malayalam | ചാരിറ്റി | ||
| The word "ചാരിറ്റി" in Malayalam is derived from the Sanskrit word "chariya", which means "virtue" or "good conduct". | |||
| Marathi | दान | ||
| In Marathi, "दान" can also refer to the act of giving away something as a religious offering or to a person in need. | |||
| Nepali | दान | ||
| "दान" comes from the Sanskrit root "dā", meaning "to give" or "to bestow". | |||
| Punjabi | ਦਾਨ | ||
| Punjabi word 'ਦਾਨ' ('daan') originates from Sanskrit word 'dana', meaning 'gift' or 'donation', but carries a connotation of offering as an act of religious merit. | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | පුණ්ය කටයුතු | ||
| Tamil | தொண்டு | ||
| "தொண்டு" is also used to refer to voluntary service or community work. | |||
| Telugu | దాతృత్వం | ||
| The word "దాతృత్వం" in Telugu derives from the Sanskrit word "दात्र", meaning "to give" or "to bestow". | |||
| Urdu | صدقہ | ||
| "صدقہ" is also used as a name in the Muslim community, with the meaning of 'truthful'. | |||
Charity in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 慈善机构 | ||
| "慈善机构" is composed of the characters "慈" (mercy) and "善" (good) and has the additional meaning of charitable organizations or philanthropic institutions. | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 慈善機構 | ||
| 慈善機構一詞源自佛教術語，意指「救濟、幫助有需要的人」 | |||
| Japanese | チャリティー | ||
| チャリティー(charity)は、もとはキリスト教用語で「愛徳」という意味だった。 | |||
| Korean | 자선 단체 | ||
| The original meaning of "자선 단체" was a Buddhist temple that provided relief to the poor, but the Korean War popularised its more generic meaning of "charity," as a result of the influx of Western humanitarian groups. | |||
| Mongolian | буяны байгууллага | ||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ချစ်ခြင်းမေတ္တာ | ||
| The literal meaning of "ချစ်ခြင်းမေတ္တာ" ("charity") refers to the Buddhist principle of loving-kindness and benevolence that extends not only to individuals but also to all sentient beings and is practiced through deeds, speech, and thoughts, encompassing kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity. | |||
Charity in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | amal | ||
| The word 'amal' can also refer to a religious act or a good deed. | |||
| Javanese | amal | ||
| The word "amal" in Javanese also has the meaning of "work" or "action", implying that charity is an active pursuit rather than a passive act of giving. | |||
| Khmer | សប្បុរសធម៌ | ||
| Lao | ຄວາມໃຈບຸນ | ||
| Malay | amal | ||
| The word "amal" in Malay is derived from the Arabic word "amal", which means "work" or "deed", and can also refer to religious acts of worship or good deeds in general. | |||
| Thai | การกุศล | ||
| The word 'การกุศล' in Thai originated from the Pali word 'kusal' meaning 'good merit' or the Sanskrit word 'kusala.' | |||
| Vietnamese | từ thiện | ||
| The word "từ thiện" derives from the Chinese characters "慈" (compassion) and "善" (goodness), thus holding the idea of doing good out of compassion. | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | kawanggawa | ||
Charity in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | xeyriyyə | ||
| The word "xeyriyyə" is derived from the Arabic word "khayr," meaning "good" or "benefit." | |||
| Kazakh | қайырымдылық | ||
| In the Quran, the term “al-zakah” or “al-sadaqa”, which can be translated as “alms,” “mercy” or “charity”, refers to one of the five fundamental pillars of Islam and means the act of sharing excess material wealth in the path of God and for communal benefit. | |||
| Kyrgyz | кайрымдуулук | ||
| The Kyrgyz word "кайрымдуулук" is also used to express the concept of generosity, kindness and compassion. | |||
| Tajik | садақа | ||
| The word 'садақа' is derived from Arabic and has a literal meaning of 'righteousness'. | |||
| Turkmen | haýyr-sahawat | ||
| Uzbek | xayriya | ||
| In the Uzbek language, the word "xayriya" can also mean "goodness" or "virtue" and is derived from the Arabic word "khair," which means "good" or "excellent." | |||
| Uyghur | خەير-ساخاۋەت | ||
Charity in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | manawalea | ||
| "Manawalea" also means "love" or "kindness" in Hawaiian. | |||
| Maori | aroha | ||
| The word 'aroha' in Maori not only means 'charity' but also encompasses love, compassion, and empathy. | |||
| Samoan | alofa mama | ||
| Alofa mama can also mean 'love of the people' or 'people's love'. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | kawanggawa | ||
| The Tagalog word "kawanggawa" originally referred to a group of people who helped each other without expecting anything in return. | |||
Charity in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | mayjasiwi | ||
| Guarani | pytyvõreko | ||
Charity in International Languages
| Esperanto | karitato | ||
| The Esperanto word "karitato" derives from the Latin "caritas," meaning "love," and also denotes a charitable act or institution. | |||
| Latin | caritas | ||
| Although 'caritas' is commonly translated as 'charity', its etymology is linked to ideas of affection, fondness, and love. | |||
Charity in Others Languages
| Greek | φιλανθρωπία | ||
| The Greek word φιλανθρωπία (philanthropia) literally means "love of humanity" and can also refer to kindness, generosity, or compassion. | |||
| Hmong | kev siab hlub | ||
| Kurdish | mirovhezî | ||
| The word 'mirovhezî' is derived from the Kurdish words 'mîr' (prince) and 'ozhî' (charity), and also connotes the concept of 'helping the poor and needy'. | |||
| Turkish | hayır kurumu | ||
| The word 'hayır kurumu' is derived from the Arabic word 'khayr' meaning 'goodness' or 'virtue' and the Turkish word 'kurum' meaning 'institution'. It can also refer to a non-profit organization or foundation. | |||
| Xhosa | isisa | ||
| "Isisa" is etymologically related to the words for "to be pure" and "to be clean" in Xhosa. | |||
| Yiddish | צדקה | ||
| In Yiddish, "tsedoke" is also used to denote justice and fairness in a broader sense, not just in relation to giving to those in need. | |||
| Zulu | isisa senhliziyo | ||
| The Zulu word 'isisa senhliziyo' literally means 'warmth of the chest' or 'heat of the stomach', emphasizing the emotional connection to acts of kindness. | |||
| Assamese | পৰোপকাৰ | ||
| Aymara | mayjasiwi | ||
| Bhojpuri | दान-पुन्न | ||
| Dhivehi | ޞަދަޤާތް | ||
| Dogri | दान | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | kawanggawa | ||
| Guarani | pytyvõreko | ||
| Ilocano | panangaasi | ||
| Krio | ɛp | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | خێرخوازی | ||
| Maithili | दान | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯇꯦꯡꯕꯥꯡ | ||
| Mizo | thilthlawnpek | ||
| Oromo | tola ooltummaa | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ଦାନ | ||
| Quechua | kuyapayay | ||
| Sanskrit | दान | ||
| Tatar | хәйрия | ||
| Tigrinya | ርድኣታ | ||
| Tsonga | tintswalo | ||