by Kevin Burton
The first time I encountered “charity” in the King James Bible, it made me scratch my head. It didn’t seem to fit just right.
Given time, words will do that to you.
“Charity” in the King James most commonly means “love.” Here are more specifics on the Biblical definition of charity from the website AV1611.com:
1. In a general sense, love, benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good. In a theological sense, it includes supreme love to God, and universal good will to men.
1 Cor. 8, Col. 3, 1 Tim. 1.
2. In a more particular sense, love, kindness, affection, tenderness, springing from natural relations; as the charities of father, son and brother.
3. Liberality to the poor, consisting in almsgiving or benefactions, or in gratuitous services to relieve them in distress.
4. Alms; whatever is bestowed gratuitously on the poor for their relief.
5. Liberality in gifts and services to promote public objects of utility, as to found and support bible societies, missionary societies, and others.
So you see that in Bible times charity meant love and only secondarily conveyed today’s meaning, which according to Merriam-Webster is “generosity and helpfulness especially toward the needy or suffering” and also “aid given to those in need.”
Here are some more words from Merriam Webster that have shifted over the years:
1-Succinct
Old Definition – being girded (“encircled with a band, such as a belt”)
Succinct is not one of the words most in use today, but it does come up from time to time; when encountered it typically has the meaning of “marked by compact precise expression without wasted words.” When it first came into English, in the 15th century, it was with the “girded” meaning. Although this meaning is now quite obsolete, it is not surprising that it was the first one attached to succinct, which may be traced to the Latin cingere (“to gird”), which has also served as the root of cinch and discinct (“loosely dressed”).
2-Flagrant
Old Definition – fiery hot; burning
A flagrant foul in a sport involves no flame or literal heat, but instead exhibits the modern sense of the word, which is “conspicuously offensive.” Flagrant comes from the Latin flagrare (“to burn”).
Some of the other words in English which share this root have retained some of their “fiery” meanings (such as conflagration, while others, such as in flagrante delicto (which comes from the Latin expression meaning “while the crime is burning”), have not.
3-Absurdity
Old Definition – (music) something that is inharmonious, untuneful
We now think of an absurdity as “something that is ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, or incongruous.” Yet before it got responsible and settled down with a nice stable meaning, absurdity had a career in music (its Latin root absurditās once meant “dissonance”). The music thing just didn’t work out for absurdity, and by the early 16th century it had moved on to the meaning it holds today.
4-Stomach
Old Definition – to take offense at
While it has not quite become a Janus word, or contranym, (both of which refer to words whose meanings are contradictory), stomach is certainly moving in that direction. It holds the incongruous meanings of “to put up with” and “to take offense at,” although the latter of these is now quite rare.
5-Conceited
Old Definition – ingeniously contrived or designed
A conceit once had the meaning “something that results from mental activity,” and the adjectival form of conceited shares semantic overlap with this.
A conceit could also refer to specific literary elements, such as “an elaborate metaphor,” and in some cases the early uses of conceited had meanings which related to this (such as “having or exhibiting a literary style marked by conceits” or “consisting of or constructed upon or around a conceit”).
6-Entertainer
Old Definition – host; one who entertains guests
It seems fairly obvious that an entertainer should be someone who entertains guests, much as a secretary was once the word for someone who kept secrets. However, this xenial sense of the word has largely been replaced with “one who entertains professionally.”
7-Hazard
Old Definition – a game of chance like craps played with two dice
Well before hazard was applied to an obstacle in golf it was applied to a game of a much different character. The word came into English from the French hansard, which was likely borrowed from the Arabic as-zahr, meaning “the dice,” or “one of the dice.” In modern use hazard most often means “a source of danger” or “chance, risk.”
8-Petulant
Old Definition – wanton or immodest in speech or behavior
Petulant may have changed its meaning over the years, but it has retained its status as ‘word most people would not use to describe themselves in a job interview’ (the current meanings are “insolent or rude in speech or behavior” and “characterized by temporary or capricious ill humor”).
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