'Tis The Season: Words For Giving

Altruism, putting others before yourself, is the opposite of egotism, selfishness. Alter means "other" in Latin, as in alter ego.

In Latin, benefactor literally means "good do-er."

is essentially the adjective form of benefactor. Bene- means good, and facere means "to do."

Here's that bene-, "good," prefix again, but in this case paired with the Latin volent, meaning "to wish" or "to will." To to be benevolent is to be driven by a desire to do good.

If you've heard the expression "alms for the poor," eleemosynary comes from the same Greek root: eleimon, "to have pity on."

Magnanimous translates to "big soul" in Latin, so you can use it to describe an action, like a donation, and also an exceedingly generous attitude.

In Greek, philo- is a prefix meaning "love," and anthropo- means "human." So philanthropy, or charitable giving, is motivated by a love for one's fellow human. Don't confuse philo- with phyllo, the thin layers of dough used to make spinach pies and other Greek delicacies. A phyllanthropist would be someone who wraps people up in pastry.

Much like Altruistic, selfless refers to someone who puts the needs of others before their own.