endowment
Americannoun
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the source of income with which an institution, etc, is endowed
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the income itself
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the act or process of endowing
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(usually plural) natural talents or qualities
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of endowment
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Anglo-French endowement; equivalent to endow + -ment
Explanation
An endowment is a gift. It might be money given to an institution like a college. Or, an endowment might be a natural gift, say of a physical attribute or a talent. If you lack the endowment of musical talent, you could play the tambourine. To endow means "to give or bequeath," and the background of the word endowment goes back to the 15th Century, where it was used to refer to money or property that is given to an institution. An example can be found in the National Endowment for the Arts, an organization dedicated to providing grants to fund artistic endeavors. Your natural endowments — speed, agility, endurance — make you an excellent soccer player. If only you could wake up in time for practice.
Vocabulary lists containing endowment
Giving Words
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The Federalist Papers, No. 10 by James Madison
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The Glass Menagerie
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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:
The gain reported by Harvard’s endowment for the fiscal year ended June 30, swelling its coffers to almost $68 billion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
SpaceX and semiconductor company Cerebras Systems made up roughly half of WashU’s gain, said Scott Wilson, investment chief of the school’s endowment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
Harvard on Thursday reported a 27.1% gain by its endowment for the fiscal year ended June 30, swelling the endowment’s coffers to almost $68 billion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
Overseeing an endowment of about $150.3 million, Ryan is prioritizing annual support for free admission and programming while raising endowment funds for staff positions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
No matter what his or her genetic endowment, no one person’s immune system has enough different HLAs to identify every strain of every virus.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
University endowments are notching their strongest returns in five years thanks in part to gains from SpaceX and other AI bets, with Harvard becoming the latest school to report a gain of more than 20%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
Giant investors like pensions and endowments have stuffed themselves so full of private equity, venture capital and other nontraded “alternative” funds that many are suffering indigestion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
The new framework aims to resemble the menu of options offered to public-employee pension plans, university endowments and other deep-pocketed institutions that hire firms like BlackRock to manage their money.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
The first institutions to feel these headwinds have been lesser-known colleges with nominal endowments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
In the north, in fact, the areas with the poorest natural endowments and the greatest susceptibility to drought were the most populous and successful.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
