Charities

How to spell charities

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce charities

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does charities mean?

1. nounOrganisations set up to help people in need, or the acts of giving such help.

Charities in a sentence

• Several local charities rely on weekend volunteers to sort donations.

• The company splits its annual donation between three charities.

Where does charities come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the plural of 'charity', which traces back to the Latin word caritas, meaning 'dearness', 'affection', or 'high regard'. That noun grew from carus, an adjective meaning 'dear' or 'beloved', the same root that gives us 'cherish' and the term of endearment 'caro'. English took the word through Old French 'charite' in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when it carried a strong religious sense of Christian love for one's neighbour. Over time the meaning narrowed from a broad ideal of loving kindness toward the practical giving of help and money to those in need, and from there to the organisations that channel that giving. The plural keeps the familiar English rule of changing a final '-y' after a consonant to '-ies', which is the small spelling step writers must remember rather than writing 'charitys'.

How the word is built

• charit- (from Latin caritas: love, esteem)
• -ies (plural suffix, with -y to -ies spelling change)