Endowment

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Endowment \En*dow"ment\, n.
     1. The act of bestowing a dower, fund, or permanent provision
        for support.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. That which is bestowed or settled on a person or an


        institution; property, fund, or revenue permanently
        appropriated to any object; as, the endowment of a church,
        a hospital, or a college.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. That which is given or bestowed upon the person or mind;
        gift of nature; accomplishment; natural capacity; talents;
        -- usually in the plural.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              His early endowments had fitted him for the work he
              was to do.                            --I. Taylor.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  endowment
       n 1: natural qualities or talents [syn: {gift}, {talent}, {natural
            endowment}]
       2: the capital that provides income for an institution [syn: {endowment
          fund}]
       3: the act of endowing with a permanent source of income; "his
          generous endowment of the laboratory came just in the nick
          of time"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  174 Moby Thesaurus words for "endowment":
     Altmann theory, DNA, De Vries theory, Galtonian theory,
     Mendelianism, Mendelism, RNA, TLC, Verworn theory, Weismann theory,
     Weismannism, Wiesner theory, abilities, ability, accommodation,
     accordance, accouterment, allele, allelomorph, allotment,
     allowance, appanage, aptitudes, armament, attributes, award,
     awarding, bequest, bestowal, bestowment, birth, bread, bump,
     caliber, capabilities, capability, capacities, capacity, care,
     catering, chandlery, character, characteristics, chromatid,
     chromatin, chromosome, communication, concession, conferment,
     conferral, contribution, daily bread, deliverance, delivery,
     determinant, determiner, diathesis, donation, dot, dower, dowry,
     economic support, empowerment, enablement, endowments, equipment,
     eugenics, factor, faculty, finding, fitting out, flair, forte,
     foundation, furnishing, furnishment, gene, genesiology,
     genetic code, genetics, genius, gift, gifting, gifts, giving,
     grant, granting, hereditability, heredity, heritability, heritage,
     impartation, impartment, inborn capacity, inheritability,
     inheritance, instinct, investiture, investment, jointure, keep,
     legal jointure, liberality, livelihood, living, logistics,
     long suit, maintenance, makings, manna, marriage portion,
     matrocliny, meat, metier, mothering, natural endowment,
     natural gift, nourishment, nurture, offer, outfitting, parts,
     patrocliny, pharmacogenetics, portion, potential, power, powers,
     preparation, present, presentation, presentment, price support,
     procurement, properties, providing, provision, provisioning,
     purveyance, qualification, recessive character, reinforcement,
     replenishment, replication, resupply, retailing, selling,
     settlement, speciality, strengths, strong flair, strong point,
     subscription, subsidization, subsidy, subsistence, subvention,
     supply, supplying, support, surrender, sustainment, sustenance,
     sustentation, talent, talents, tender loving care, the goods,
     the stuff, thirds, upkeep, victualing, vouchsafement,
     what it takes
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  ENDOWMENT. The bestowing or assuring of a dower to a woman. It is sometimes 
  used: metaphorically, for the setting a provision for a charitable 
  institution, as the endowment of a hospital.