charity

Date: 1100-1200; Language: Old French; Origin: charité, from Late Latin caritas 'Christian love', from Latin carus 'dear'

Charity may refer to:

• Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy [慈善] and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good).
• Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing
• Charity (virtue), the religious concept of unlimited love and kindness
• Principle of charity, in philosophy and rhetoric [修辞]

The legal definition of a charitable organization (and of charity) varies between countries and in some instances regions of the country. The regulation, the tax treatment, and the way in which charity law affects charitable organizations also vary. Charitable organizations may not use any of their funds to profit individual persons or entities. (However, some charitable organizations have come under scrutiny for spending a disproportionate amount of their income to pay the salaries of their leadership).

Financial figures (e.g. tax refund, revenue from fundraising, revenue from sale of goods and services or revenue from investment) are indicators to assess the financial sustainability of a charity, especially to charity evaluators. This information can impact a charity's reputation with donors and societies, and thus the charity's financial gains.

Charitable organizations often depend partly on donations from businesses. Such donations to charitable organizations represent a major form of corporate philanthropy.

In order to meet the exempt organizational test requirements, a charity has to be exclusively organized and operated. In order to receive and pass the exemption test, a charitable organization must follow the public interest and all exempt income should be for the public interest [advantage; benefit 好处; 利益; 福利].

Until the mid-18th century, charity was mainly distributed through religious structures, almshouses and bequests from the rich. Christianity, Judaism and Islam [基督教、犹太教和伊斯兰教] incorporated significant charitable elements from their very beginnings and dāna (alms-giving) has a long tradition in Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism [印度教、耆qí那教、佛教和锡克教]. Charities provided education, health, housing and even prisons.

Alms [救济金; 施舍物] are gifts of money, clothes, or food to poor people. Almshouses are houses which were built and run by charities to provide accommodation for poor or old people who could not afford to pay rent.

六级/考研单词: charity, well-being, secular, benevolent, rhetoric, illicit, regulate, affection, entity, scrutiny, refund, invest, evaluate, sustain, repute, thereby, seldom, exempt, buddha, educate, heal, clothe, accommodate