gift

¹

[ gift ]

noun

1. something given voluntarily without payment in return, as to show favor toward someone, honor an occasion, or make a gesture of assistance; present.

   Synonyms: dowry, inheritance, legacy, bequest, subsidy, allowance, premium, tip, gratuity, alms, largesse, boon, bounty, endowment, benefaction, offering, contribution, donation

2. the act of giving.
3. something bestowed or acquired without any particular effort by the recipient or without its being earned:

   Those extra points he got in the game were a total gift.

4. a special ability or capacity; natural endowment; talent:

   the gift of saying the right thing at the right time.

   Synonyms: aptitude, faculty, knack, turn, genius, forte, bent, capability

verb (used with object)

1. to present with as a gift; bestow gifts upon; endow with.
2. to present (someone) with a gift:

   just the thing to gift the newlyweds.

GIFT

²

[ gift ]

noun

1. gamete intrafallopian transfer: a laparoscopic process in which eggs are retrieved from an ovary by aspiration and inserted, along with sperm, into the fallopian tube of another woman.

GIFT

¹

/ ɡɪft /

acronym for

1. gamete intrafallopian transfer: a technique, similar to in vitro fertilization, that enables some women who are unable to conceive to bear children. Egg cells are removed from the woman's ovary, mixed with sperm, and introduced into one of her Fallopian tubes

gift

²

/ ɡɪft /

noun

1. something given; a present
2. a special aptitude, ability, or power; talent
3. the power or right to give or bestow (esp in the phrases in the gift of, in ( someone's ) gift )
4. the act or process of giving
5. look a gift-horse in the mouth
   look a gift-horse in the mouth usually negative to find fault with a free gift or chance benefit

verb

1. to present (something) as a gift to (a person)
2. often foll by with to present (someone) with a gift
3. rare.
   to endow with; bestow

Derived Forms

• ˈgiftless, adjective

Other Words From

• giftless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of gift¹

First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English, from Old Norse gift; cognate with Old English gift ( Middle English yift ) “marriage gift”; akin to give

Word History and Origins

Origin of gift¹

Old English gift payment for a wife, dowry; related to Old Norse gipt, Old High German gift, Gothic fragifts endowment, engagement; see give

Idioms and Phrases

In addition to the idiom beginning with gift , also see look a gift horse in the mouth .

Synonym Study

See present ².

Example Sentences

The kids had a gift for him too, a tee shirt with ‘Baseball Spoken Here’ stenciled across the front.

From The Daily Beast

While the chicken today might be the least exotic bird one can think of, it was once a gift that wowed kings.

From The Daily Beast

A Christmas Carol revived and reinvented it around the gift of giving.

From The Daily Beast

Then the gift card is shopped online in a gray market to collect cold currency.

From The Daily Beast

Moraca pointed to another form of return fraud, involving gift cards.

From The Daily Beast

The living (value £250) is in the gift of trustees, and is now held by the Rev. M. Parker, Vicar.

From Project Gutenberg

At the end of the first year, however, she resigned this privilege because she did not wish to accept the conditions of the gift.

From Project Gutenberg

This gift of rice was especially pleasing to the traveller, as no dish is held in higher honour in Korea.

From Project Gutenberg

It is certain that I then had a bad cough nearly always; and this I am sure was what decided the form of his parting gift to me.

From Project Gutenberg

His methodical mind hated the idea of disorder; administration came to him as Nature's gift.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• allowance
• award
• benefit
• bonus
• contribution
• donation
• endowment
• favor
• giveaway
• grant
• legacy
• offering
• premium
• present
• relief
• reward
• souvenir
• subsidy
• tip
• tribute