philanthropy
/fɪˈlanθrəpi
/noun [mass noun]
1The desire to promote the welfare of others, expressed especially by the generous donation of money to good causes: he acquired a considerable fortune and was noted for his philanthropy...
- The greater generosity of Conservatives reflects the value they place on individual philanthropy above publicly-funded welfare services.
- Another implication of prioritising private philanthropy over state welfare is to suggest that if you're rich, you * should * help those on the other end of the scale.
- He has betrayed those who, out of genuine philanthropy, donated money to his campaigns.
Synonyms
benevolence, generosity, humanitarianism, public-spiritedness, altruism, social conscience, social concern, charity, charitableness, brotherly love, fellow feeling, magnanimity, munificence, liberality, largesse, open-handedness, bountifulness, beneficence, benignity, unselfishness, selflessness, humanity, kindness, kind-heartedness, big-heartedness, compassion, humaneness;
patronage, sponsorship, backing, help
historical almsgiving
literary bounty, bounteousness
1.1 [count noun] North American A philanthropic institution; a charity: a philanthropy was incorporated to help oldsters obtain benefits like pension rights...
- Local philanthropies, chiefly the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Lenfest Foundation and the Annenberg Foundation, pledged to help raise $150 million to guarantee the Barnes's future.
- Flexner became secretary of the new Rockefeller Foundation's General Education Board, which heavily funded Johns Hopkins and a few other medical schools and led other philanthropies to follow suit.
- In May 2000, the Pew Charitable Trusts, one of the nation's largest philanthropies, launched the Pew Oceans Commission, co-chaired by New Jersey Gov.
Derivatives
philanthropism
/ nounphilanthropize
/ (also philanthropise) verb ...- The population of unselfish genes will dwindle generation after generation until the contributors to the larger good have philanthropized themselves out of existence.
Origin
Early 17th century: via late Latin from Greek philanthrōpia, from philanthrōpos 'man-loving' (see philanthrope).