释义 |
donation|dəʊˈneɪʃən| [a. F. donation, ad. L. dōnātiōn-em, n. of action f. dōnāre to present.] 1. The action or faculty of giving or presenting; presentation, bestowal; grant.
c1425Wyntoun Cron. v. xii. 1207 Ðe kyng..Mad til Saynct Serf donatyowne Of þat Inch. c1525(title) A Treatyse of the donation or gyfte and endowment of possessyons, gyuen and graunted vnto Sylvester pope of Rhome, by Constantyne. 1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxii. §19 The grace of Baptisme commeth by donation from God alone. 1667Milton P.L. xii. 69 That right we hold By his donation. 1894J. T. Fowler Adamnan Introd. 65 Who..made to him a donation of the island of Iona. b. spec. The action or right of bestowing or conferring a benefice; the ‘gift’.
1540Act 32 Hen. VIII, c. 44 The aduouson, donacion and presentacion of the said vicarage shall apperteyn..to the kynges hyghnesse. 1724Swift Drapier's Lett. Wks. 1755 V. ii. 145 Many principal church livings are in the donation of the crown. 1785Paley Mor. Philos. (1818) II. 222 The offices in the donation of the king. 2. Law. The action or contract by which a person transfers the ownership of a thing from himself to another, as a free gift.
1651W. G. tr. Cowel's Inst. 106 In Lands..A Feoffment is of a Fee simple to the Donee or Feoffee, and a Donation or Gift is of an Estate taile. 1765Blackstone Comm. I. iii. (1793) 264 King William, queen Mary, and queen Anne, did not take the crown by hereditary right or descent, but by way of donation or purchase, as the lawyers call it. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) I. 5 A feud was a tract of land held by a voluntary and gratuitous donation, on condition of fidelity and certain services. 3. That which is presented; a gift.
1577tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 960 They..had a donatyon giuen vnto ech of them as it were a pleadge or earnest. 1630Prynne Anti-Armin. 120 It makes all these graces..not the absolute gifts, the free donations of God. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) III. 197 All the gifts and donations..amounted to no more than six thousand ducats. 1895Daily News 5 Dec. 3/6 The commissioners had anticipated that the donations would fall off. 4. attrib., as donation-governor, a person constituted a governor of an institution in consideration of a donation to its funds.
1860Bartlett Dict. Amer., Donation Party, a party consisting of the friends and parishioners of a country clergyman assembled together, each individual bringing some article..as a present to him..also called a giving party. 1894Daily News 13 July 7/4 Preference to candidates recommended by a Donation Governor. |