• Eleëmosynary

    Pronunciation

    • RP IPA: /ˌɛlɪ.iːˈmÉ’sɪnəɹɪ/
    “eleemosynary, a. and n.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary, second edition (1989)

    Full definition of eleëmosynary

    Adjective

    eleëmosynary

      • 1853, Oxford University Commission, The North American Review, April 1853, page 384University Professorships are founded in connection with these eleëmosynary halls.
      • 1856, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Outre-mer: A Pilgrimage Beyond the Sea, page 58:He was led about by a brisk, middle-aged woman, in straw hat and wooden shoes; and a little barefooted boy, with clear, blue eyes and flaxen hair, held a tattered hat in his hand, in which he collected eleëmosynary sous.
      • 1900, Eustace Alfred Reynolds-Ball, Paris in Its Splendor, page 41:The following statistics, for which I am indebted to that encyclopædic storehouse of practical information, Baedeker’s “Paris”, will give the reader some idea of the importance of the eleëmosynary work undertaken by the sub-committee (Assistance Publique) of the council entrusted with the administration of the Paris hospitals: “The twenty hospitals of Paris have an aggregate of upwards of twelve thousand beds. The number of patients annually discharged includes forty-five to fifty thousand men, thirty-six to forty thousand women, and sixteen to eighteen thousand children; the average annual deaths in the hospitals include about seven ...
      • 2005 May 25, “The Tensor”, Tenser, said the Tensor: Diaeresis Defense:Over at the Volokh Conspiracy, Eugene Volokh posts about a linguistic, or at least orthographic, advocacy group:
      • Diaeresis Defense, an eleëmosynary reëducation coöperative.Favorite artists: The Brontës.Least favorite artists (winners of Diaeresis Defense’s “Ersatz Dieresis Award”): Mötley Crüe.Slogan: “Two vowels, two sounds, two dots”.
      • I believe the proper expression is “heh”. Er, assuming he’s kidding, of course...
      • 2006 May 5, “John Woodgate”, sci.lang.translation (Google group): Albanian words for eyebrow:Like the RC priest who was responsible for Knock airport, she was not above using ‘interesting’ methods to fulfil eleëmosynary ambitions.
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