An archaic term for charitable giving or almsgiving, particularly in the context of medieval property donations to the Church.
From Old French aumone, from Late Latin eleemosyna, from Greek eleēmosunē (ἐλεημοσύνη) meaning 'compassion' or 'alms.' The word traveled from Christian Greek through Latin and Old French into English with the sense of charitable obligation.
Almoign shows how the idea of organized charity is ancient—the Greeks had a specific word for it, and it became a core concept in medieval Christian theology and law!
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