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:
They expect the endowment tax on realized returns to add another $98 million to the deficit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
The civil grand jury recommendation comes as the city remains in a legal dispute over a $50-million endowment with the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Assn., a longtime fundraising partner.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
The University of North Carolina system invested early in Peter Thiel’s venture firm, Founders Fund, and has about 10% of its endowment in the company, The Wall Street Journal has reported.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
Princeton University’s endowment manager, Princo, reversed its voluntary pledge to divest from publicly traded fossil fuel companies.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 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
“What happened during that period was that a consensus emerged,” Eustis said, noting that it was expressed in the form of national endowments, state arts agencies, public policy institutes and corporate philanthropic departments.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
From longtime executives to short-term employees, college endowments and venture-capital firms, all stand to benefit from their stakes in the rocket maker.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
A handful of schools have outsize positions that make up a tenth or more of their endowments, unusual scenarios for institutions that typically aim to have well-diversified investment portfolios.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
Darsana’s clients have included the endowments of Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania, according to regulatory filings reviewed by fund-data tracker Old Well Labs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
The colleges are heavy with gifts and endowments.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
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.
