donate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
donates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
donated,
past participle, past
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donating
present participle
verb (used without object)
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donates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
donated,
past participle, past
-
donating
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
donatesimple
-
donatessimple
-
have donatedperfect
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has donatedperfect
-
am donatingprogressive
-
are donatingprogressive
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is donatingprogressive
-
have been donatingperfect progressive
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has been donatingperfect progressive
Past
-
donatedsimple
-
had donatedperfect
-
was donatingprogressive
-
were donatingprogressive
-
had been donatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of donate
1775–85, probably back formation from donation
Explanation
To donate means to give something — money, goods, or time — to some cause, such as a charity. The word has a more altruistic meaning than does simply "giving"; it suggests that you don't expect anything in return for the contribution. The verb donate has always meant "to give," all the way back to the Latin verb donāre, "to give as a gift." Trace it back even further, to the ancient Indo-European roots, and you still have that same feeling to the word — "a gift." But it's more than a gift — it's a gift with the intention of helping. As an African proverb says, "If everybody in town donates one thread, the poor man has a shirt."
Vocabulary lists containing donate
Giving Words
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Michelle Obama's Speech at the 2016 DNC
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for October 15–October 21, 2022
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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:
Two years later, Oxford University philosophers William MacAskill and Toby Ord launched "Giving What We Can," encouraging people to donate at least 10 percent of their income to tackling global poverty.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
In the rules, the Treasury Department said there are several donors who are ready to make Dell-sized contributions of stock but who wouldn’t donate cash.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
Reed knew Kao was behind the $150,000 anonymous donation, emails showed, because Kao told Reed he planned to donate through a shell company.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
But Hodgson said: "You cannot just donate something and then ask for it back. That's the whole point of a donation."
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
"We're out trying to raise money so that we can open a children's center. Anything you'd be willing to donate would be greatly appreciated."
From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi
He donates the venison to food pantries because he has alpha-gal and his son “almost died from anaphylactic shock from two Advil gel caps,” he told me.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026
A living-donor kidney transplant is when a healthy living person donates their kidney.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
The family foundation regularly donates to refugee organizations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
That means it is run as a business but is focused on a social purpose and donates more than half its profits to good causes.
From BBC ● Feb. 28, 2026
“The owner of the Afghan restaurant near here donates meals to welcome new families. Let’s go there,” Salma Auntie agrees.
From "Amina's Song" by Hena Khan
Michelson’s institute first became a nonprofit in 2022, and the co-founder has donated at least $120 million to the research organization.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Brockman and his wife donated $25 million to Leading the Future last September, and had committed to contributing another $25 million in 2026.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
Inverness-based charity New Start Highland uses vans to collect and deliver donated items, such as furniture, to people in need.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
Winer, who had already donated himself, replied, “With my contribution, I think it sends the right message.”
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
She sells tacos, pork rinds, cakes, chopped fruit, and donated bread in front of the hospital.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
Polaczy, who is now 80, said donating cycling shorts wasn't cheap, but it was worth it for her own peace of mind.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
Carnegie Mellon University announced Wednesday that Ken Griffin, the CEO of hedge-fund firm Citadel, is donating $3 billion to the school, the largest individual gift in higher-education history.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026
Kao and his team settled on donating scholarships to women in STEM.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
The federal program soon will let Americans get an Education Freedom Tax Credit of up to $1,700 for donating to scholarship organizations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
Why was he donating five hundred dollars to the American Cancer Society?
From "Schooled" by Gordon Korman
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.
