donation
Americannoun
-
an act or instance of presenting something as a gift, grant, or contribution.
-
a gift, as to a fund; contribution.
- Synonyms:
- gratuity, benefaction, offering
noun
-
the act of giving, esp to a charity
-
a contribution
Synonym Usage
See present 2.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of donation
1375–1425, for an earlier sense; late Middle English < Latin dōnātiōn- (stem of dōnātiō ), equivalent to dōnāt ( us ), past participle of dōnāre to give ( dōn-, stem of dōnum gift, + -ātus -ate 1 ) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
A donation is a gift someone gives to a cause they believe in. If you have ever put a dollar into a collection plate or hat, you have made a donation. No one has to give a donation; donations are voluntary. In addition to disease research, many schools, arts groups, museums, churches, and groups that help the poor rely on donations. Donations usually take the form of money, but giving anything away to a cause could be considered a donation — like giving books to a library or bringing deviled eggs to a school potluck.
Vocabulary lists containing donation
An Explanation of Herd Immunity from "On Immunity" by Eula Biss
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This Week In Words: Current Events Vocab for January 9–15, 2021
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Boxing Day
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Some who know her describe her as largely apolitical; her one candidate donation since 1990 went to a Republican state senator who supported disability rights legislation.
From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026
A nine-year-old boy who inspired changes to Northern Ireland's organ donation laws has received a heart transplant after an eight-year wait.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
But in the letter to GKN executives, the county argued that the donation did not absolve the company of liability or of costs incurred by taxpayers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Buffett was skipping his typical midyear donation to the Gates Foundation to wait to see the findings of a review into the foundation’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
“I want to tell them a little what HeLa means to me as a young cancer researcher, and how grateful I am for their donation years ago,” he wrote.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
Taken together, these donations account for the vast majority of the $13 million that America First Agricultural Action Inc. has raised so far this cycle.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
Even with 25,000 donations, it didn’t crack the halfway mark.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
The technology industry led, with nearly $50 million in donations, almost matching the entirety of funds raised by President Barack Obama in 2009.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
Carhart-Harris is supported by the Ralph Metzner Distinguished Professorship and philanthropic donations to the Psychedelics Division, Neuroscape, UCSF, plus philanthropic donations to the Carhart-Harris Lab.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026
In this case, they wanted to learn about the motivation behind blood donations.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
