Charity in Different Languages
Discover 'Charity' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Charity
Afrikaans liefdadigheid | ||
Albanian bamirësi | ||
Amharic ምጽዋት | ||
Arabic الاعمال الخيرية | ||
Armenian բարեգործություն | ||
Assamese পৰোপকাৰ | ||
Aymara mayjasiwi | ||
Azerbaijani xeyriyyə | ||
Bambara kànuya | ||
Basque karitatea | ||
Belarusian дабрачыннасць | ||
Bengali দানশীলতা | ||
Bhojpuri दान-पुन्न | ||
Bosnian dobrotvorne svrhe | ||
Bulgarian благотворителност | ||
Catalan caritat | ||
Cebuano gugma nga putli | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 慈善机构 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 慈善機構 | ||
Corsican carità | ||
Croatian dobročinstvo | ||
Czech charita | ||
Danish velgørenhed | ||
Dhivehi ޞަދަޤާތް | ||
Dogri दान | ||
Dutch goed doel | ||
English charity | ||
Esperanto karitato | ||
Estonian heategevus | ||
Ewe dɔmenyo | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) kawanggawa | ||
Finnish hyväntekeväisyys | ||
French charité | ||
Frisian woldiedigens | ||
Galician caridade | ||
Georgian საქველმოქმედო | ||
German nächstenliebe | ||
Greek φιλανθρωπία | ||
Guarani pytyvõreko | ||
Gujarati દાન | ||
Haitian Creole charite | ||
Hausa sadaka | ||
Hawaiian manawalea | ||
Hebrew צדקה | ||
Hindi दान पुण्य | ||
Hmong kev siab hlub | ||
Hungarian adomány | ||
Icelandic góðgerðarstarfsemi | ||
Igbo ọrụ ebere | ||
Ilocano panangaasi | ||
Indonesian amal | ||
Irish carthanas | ||
Italian beneficenza | ||
Japanese チャリティー | ||
Javanese amal | ||
Kannada ದಾನ | ||
Kazakh қайырымдылық | ||
Khmer សប្បុរសធម៌ | ||
Kinyarwanda imfashanyo | ||
Konkani देणगी | ||
Korean 자선 단체 | ||
Krio ɛp | ||
Kurdish mirovhezî | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) خێرخوازی | ||
Kyrgyz кайрымдуулук | ||
Lao ຄວາມໃຈບຸນ | ||
Latin caritas | ||
Latvian labdarība | ||
Lingala kokabela babola | ||
Lithuanian labdara | ||
Luganda okuyamba | ||
Luxembourgish charity | ||
Macedonian добротворни цели | ||
Maithili दान | ||
Malagasy fiantrana | ||
Malay amal | ||
Malayalam ചാരിറ്റി | ||
Maltese karità | ||
Maori aroha | ||
Marathi दान | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯇꯦꯡꯕꯥꯡ | ||
Mizo thilthlawnpek | ||
Mongolian буяны байгууллага | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ချစ်ခြင်းမေတ္တာ | ||
Nepali दान | ||
Norwegian veldedighet | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) zachifundo | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଦାନ | ||
Oromo tola ooltummaa | ||
Pashto خیرات | ||
Persian خیریه | ||
Polish dobroczynność | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) caridade | ||
Punjabi ਦਾਨ | ||
Quechua kuyapayay | ||
Romanian caritate | ||
Russian благотворительная деятельность | ||
Samoan alofa mama | ||
Sanskrit दान | ||
Scots Gaelic carthannas | ||
Sepedi lerato | ||
Serbian добротворне сврхе | ||
Sesotho bolingani | ||
Shona rudo | ||
Sindhi خيرات | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) පුණ්ය කටයුතු | ||
Slovak dobročinnosť | ||
Slovenian dobrodelnost | ||
Somali sadaqo | ||
Spanish caridad | ||
Sundanese amal | ||
Swahili hisani | ||
Swedish välgörenhet | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) kawanggawa | ||
Tajik садақа | ||
Tamil தொண்டு | ||
Tatar хәйрия | ||
Telugu దాతృత్వం | ||
Thai การกุศล | ||
Tigrinya ርድኣታ | ||
Tsonga tintswalo | ||
Turkish hayır kurumu | ||
Turkmen haýyr-sahawat | ||
Twi (Akan) ahummɔborɔ | ||
Ukrainian благодійність | ||
Urdu صدقہ | ||
Uyghur خەير-ساخاۋەت | ||
Uzbek xayriya | ||
Vietnamese từ thiện | ||
Welsh elusen | ||
Xhosa isisa | ||
Yiddish צדקה | ||
Yoruba alanu | ||
Zulu isisa senhliziyo |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | 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'. |
| Albanian | The Albanian word "bamirësi" is derived from the Proto-Albanian word "*banmiorēsi", meaning "goodness" or "good deed". |
| Amharic | 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 |
| Arabic | 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. |
| Azerbaijani | The word "xeyriyyə" is derived from the Arabic word "khayr," meaning "good" or "benefit." |
| Basque | The Basque word for charity, "karitatea", is related to the word for love, "maitasuna", and the word for friend, "laguna". |
| Bengali | 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. |
| Bosnian | The word "dobrotvorne svrhe" can also refer to "public benefit" or "non-profit". |
| Bulgarian | The Old Church Slavonic root blagodětь meant “good doing.” |
| Catalan | The term caritat is the Catalan for 'charity', deriving from the Latin caritas 'dearness, affection'. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | "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) | 慈善機構一詞源自佛教術語，意指「救濟、幫助有需要的人」 |
| Corsican | In Corsican, “carità” also means "love". |
| Croatian | The word "dobročinstvo" originally meant "doing good" or "benefit" in Croatian. |
| Czech | The Czech word "charita" comes from the Greek word "cháris" meaning "grace" or "gift." |
| Danish | The word "velgørenhed" is derived from the Old Norse "vel" (well) and "gerning" (deed), and is cognate with the English word "well-doing". |
| Dutch | The Dutch word "goed doel" literally means "good goal". |
| Esperanto | The Esperanto word "karitato" derives from the Latin "caritas," meaning "love," and also denotes a charitable act or institution. |
| Estonian | Heategevus is derived from heategu, meaning 'good deed', and is related to the word heatahtlikkus, meaning 'benevolence'. |
| Finnish | "Hyväntekeväisyys" shares its root with "hyvä" (good) and "teko" (deed). |
| French | The origin of the word 'charité' in French is the Latin 'caritas', which also gives us the word 'caro', meaning 'dear'. |
| Frisian | Woldiedigens means "good deeds" which were expected to help someone get into heaven |
| Galician | In Galician, the word "caridade" can also refer to a gift or donation, or to a kind deed. |
| German | The German word 'Nächstenliebe' literally translated means 'neighboring love' |
| Greek | The Greek word φιλανθρωπία (philanthropia) literally means "love of humanity" and can also refer to kindness, generosity, or compassion. |
| Gujarati | The Gujarati word 'દાન' (charity) can also refer to 'gift' or 'donation', and is derived from the Sanskrit word 'दाना' (gift). |
| Haitian Creole | The word "charite" comes from the French word "charité", meaning "generosity" or "compassion." |
| Hausa | "Sadaka" is also a type of traditional Hausa music and dance. |
| Hawaiian | "Manawalea" also means "love" or "kindness" in Hawaiian. |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word "צדקה" also has the meanings of "justice" and "righteousness". |
| Hindi | The word "daan puny" in Hindi is a compound of two words, "daan" and "punya," which respectively mean "gift" and "merit." |
| Hungarian | 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". |
| Igbo | The Igbo word " ọrụ ebere" ("charity ") originally meant "an act of kindness from a superior to an inferior". |
| Indonesian | The word 'amal' can also refer to a religious act or a good deed. |
| Irish | The word 'carthanas' in Irish derives ultimately from the Latin 'caritas', meaning 'love' or 'affection'. |
| Italian | The Italian word "beneficenza" comes from the Latin "beneficium," meaning "favor, kindness," and also "interest on a loan." |
| Japanese | 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。 |
| Javanese | 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. |
| Kannada | ದಾನ can alternately mean 'gift' or 'donation' and is derived from the Sanskrit root 'da' meaning 'to give'. |
| Kazakh | 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. |
| Korean | 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. |
| Kurdish | 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'. |
| Kyrgyz | The Kyrgyz word "кайрымдуулук" is also used to express the concept of generosity, kindness and compassion. |
| Latin | Although 'caritas' is commonly translated as 'charity', its etymology is linked to ideas of affection, fondness, and love. |
| Latvian | 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 | The term "labdara" derives from the Proto-Indo-European root "bher-", meaning "to bear", and has historical connotations of alms-giving and material assistance. |
| Luxembourgish | It is related to "Chârité", a type of catholic relief organization, which is related to the Latin "caritas" meaning love. |
| Macedonian | The word "добротворни цели" (charity) is derived from the Old Church Slavonic word "доброта" (goodness) and the suffix "-творити" (to do). |
| Malagasy | The word "fiantrana" in Malagasy can also refer to "generosity", "kindness", or "hospitality". |
| Malay | 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. |
| Malayalam | The word "ചാരിറ്റി" in Malayalam is derived from the Sanskrit word "chariya", which means "virtue" or "good conduct". |
| Maltese | The word "karità" in Maltese is derived from the Greek word "charitas", meaning "love" or "affection". |
| Maori | The word 'aroha' in Maori not only means 'charity' but also encompasses love, compassion, and empathy. |
| Marathi | In Marathi, "दान" can also refer to the act of giving away something as a religious offering or to a person in need. |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | 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. |
| Nepali | "दान" comes from the Sanskrit root "dā", meaning "to give" or "to bestow". |
| Norwegian | The word "veldedighet" in Norwegian is derived from the Old Norse word "véldáð" meaning "good deed". |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word "zachifundo" in Nyanja also means "mercy" or "pity". |
| Pashto | "خیرات" (charity) is the plural form of the Persian word "خیریت" (righteousness). |
| Persian | The Arabic word "Khiyara" can also mean "the act of choosing" in Persian. |
| Polish | Dobroczynność, derived from "dobry" (good) and "czynić" (to do), implies an active goodness or benevolence. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The word "caridade" comes from the Latin word "caritas," which means love or affection. |
| Punjabi | 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. |
| Romanian | Caritate also refers to the gift given as a sign of charity to the poor, or the help provided to the needy. |
| Russian | The word "благотворительная деятельность" can also refer to philanthropy, which is the desire to promote the welfare of others. |
| Samoan | Alofa mama can also mean 'love of the people' or 'people's love'. |
| Scots Gaelic | The word 'carthannas' (charity) comes from the Old Irish word 'cara' meaning 'friend' and the Gaelic word 'tannas' meaning 'love'. |
| Serbian | The word "добротворне сврхе" also means "philanthropy" in Serbian. |
| Sesotho | 'Bolingani' is a compound word derived from the verb 'ho bola' (to ask) and the noun 'ngana' (lord). |
| Shona | The Shona word 'rudo' also means 'love' or 'kindness'. |
| Sindhi | The Sindhi word "خيرات" also means "alms"} |
| Slovak | The Slovak word "dobročinnosť" is a combination of "dobro," meaning "good," and "činnosť," meaning "deed." |
| Slovenian | "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. |
| Somali | "Sadaqo" is also used to refer to the money collected during a religious ceremony or event. |
| Spanish | The Spanish word "caridad" comes from the Latin word "caritas," which means "dearness" or "love." |
| Sundanese | Amal also means 'practice' or 'deed' in Sundanese. |
| Swahili | 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'. |
| Swedish | "Välgörenhet" derives from "göra väl" or "do well," indicating a noble act that benefits others. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The Tagalog word "kawanggawa" originally referred to a group of people who helped each other without expecting anything in return. |
| Tajik | The word 'садақа' is derived from Arabic and has a literal meaning of 'righteousness'. |
| Tamil | "தொண்டு" is also used to refer to voluntary service or community work. |
| Telugu | The word "దాతృత్వం" in Telugu derives from the Sanskrit word "दात्र", meaning "to give" or "to bestow". |
| Thai | The word 'การกุศล' in Thai originated from the Pali word 'kusal' meaning 'good merit' or the Sanskrit word 'kusala.' |
| Turkish | 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. |
| Ukrainian | "Благодійність" comes from the Old Slavonic "blago" (good) and "дѣяти" (to do), meaning "doing good". |
| Urdu | "صدقہ" is also used as a name in the Muslim community, with the meaning of 'truthful'. |
| Uzbek | 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." |
| Vietnamese | The word "từ thiện" derives from the Chinese characters "慈" (compassion) and "善" (goodness), thus holding the idea of doing good out of compassion. |
| Welsh | The word "elusen" in Welsh is derived from the Latin word "eleemosyna," meaning "alms" or "charity." |
| Xhosa | "Isisa" is etymologically related to the words for "to be pure" and "to be clean" in Xhosa. |
| Yiddish | 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. |
| Yoruba | The word "alanu" in Yoruba can also refer to a kind gesture or an act of kindness. |
| Zulu | The Zulu word 'isisa senhliziyo' literally means 'warmth of the chest' or 'heat of the stomach', emphasizing the emotional connection to acts of kindness. |
| English | The word "charity" derives from the Greek word "agapē," meaning "love" or "affection". |