alms

See also: ALMS, ALMs, and Alms

English

Etymology

From Middle English almes, almesse, ælmesse, from Old English ælmesse, from Proto-West Germanic *alemōsinā, a borrowing from Vulgar Latin *alemosyna, from Late Latin eleēmosyna, from Ancient Greek ἐλεημοσύνη (eleēmosúnē, “alms”), from ἐλεέω (eleéō, “I have mercy”), from ἔλεος (éleos, “mercy”). Compare Saterland Frisian Aalmoose (“alms”), Dutch aalmoes (“alms”), German Almosen (“alms”), German Almosen (“alms”), Portuguese esmola (“alms”), Galician esmola (“alms”), Spanish limosna (“alms”), French aumône (“alms”).

Pronunciation
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ɑːmz/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ɑmz/, /ɑlmz/, (obsolete) /æmz/[1]
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɑːmz, -ɑːlmz
  • Homophone: arms (most non-rhotic accents)

Noun

alms (plural alms)

  1. Something given to the poor as charity, such as money, clothing or food.
    She gave $10 weekly to the poor as alms.
    Alms are distributed from the weekly collection for the purpose.

Derived terms

Descendants
  • Gullah: aa'ms

Translations

References
  1. Krapp, George Philip (1925) The English Language in America‎, volume II, New York: Century Co. for the Modern Language Association of America, →OCLC, page 82.

Anagrams

Swedish

Noun

alms

  1. indefinite genitive singular of alm

Anagrams
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.