▪ I. gift, n.
(gɪft)
Forms: α. 1 ᵹift, ᵹyft, 2–5 ȝift(e, (4 ȝiefte), 3–5 ȝeft, 4 ȝyft(e, 4–6 yeft(e, (5 ȝefft, yeffe, yifte, yyft, yft, 6 yeffte). β. 4 yefþe, -the, 5 ȝyfth. γ. 3–6 gifte, gyft(e, 6 gyfft, (3 giuete, 4 gifit, giftt, 6 gefte, gieft), 3, 6, 7 guift(e, 3– gift.
[Com. Teut.: OE. ᵹift str. fem. (recorded only in the sense ‘payment for a wife’, and in the plural with the sense ‘wedding’) corresponds to OFris. jeft fem., gift, MDu. gift(e (Du. gift fem., gift, gift neut., now more commonly gif, poison), OHG. gift fem., gift, poison (MHG., mod.G. gift fem., gift, neut., poison), ON. gift, usually written gipt gift (Sw., Da. -gift in compounds), pl. giptar a wedding, Goth. -gifts in compounds:—OTeut. *gifti-z fem., f. root *geƀ- give v.
The OE. sense does not appear to have survived into ME.; the αand βforms are perh. new formations from the vb., while the γtype, to which the mod. Eng. form belongs, is prob. (as the guttural seems to show) adopted from ON.]
I. Giving.
1. a. The action of giving, an instance of the same; a giving, bestowal. † of gift: as a gift, gratuitously, for nothing; also of free gift. (I would not have it) at a gift (colloq.): at the price of nothing; even as a gift. † of a person's gift: of his giving, as his gift. Also, the power or right of giving, in phr. in († of) a person's gift.
| α c 1300 K. Alis. 4682 [Laud MS.] What wiþ ȝifte what wiþ queyntise Alle he wan hem to his seruyse. c 1340 Cursor M. 5090 (Trin.) Ȝoure sackes shal I fille of ȝift [Cott. o gift]. c 1400 Rom. Rose 3663, I wolde gladly..Have a cos therof freely Of your yeft. 1475 Bk. Noblesse (1860) 22 William..was righte duke of Normandie by yeft of Charlys the symple, king of Fraunce. 1503 Churchw. Acc. Croscombe (Som. Rec. Soc.) 28 Of the yefte of Alsun Abbot a payr of beds of jett. |
| γ a 1300 Cursor M. 28760 Þe thrid almus es gift of hand, or elles in word or werk helpand. 1357 Lay Folks Catech. 25 Thai had it of goddes giftt at thaire begynnyng. 1523 Fitzherb. Surv. 29 It is to be enquered of all y⊇ churches that belong to the lordes gyft how many there be & where they be & what they be worthe. 1583 Hollyband Campo di Fior 109 But canst thou not haue of gifte the filth which is painted on thy handes and necke? 1589 C. Ockland in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 71 For thei be of my Lorde of Warwikes gyfte. 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. x. 14 Therefore these two, her eldest sonnes, she sent To seeke for succour of this Ladies gieft. 1650 Fuller Pisgah iii. i. 359 This floor David bought of Araunah the Jebusite, from whom he would not take it of gift. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxi. 108 When we say a Guift is Free, there is not meant any Liberty of the Guift, but of the Giver. 1675 South Serm. (1737) I. xi. 406 No man has any antecedent right or claim to that which comes to him by free-gift. 1679–88 Secr. Serv. Money Chas. & Jas. (Camden) 27 To Lieu{supt} Anthony Heyford, as of free guift 30li. os. od. 1785 Cowper Lett. Wks. (1876) 220 A gift of bedding to the poor of Olney. 1837 Disraeli Venetia i. iv, The rich living was in the gift of the Herberts. a 1854 H. Reed Lect. Eng. Lit. iv. (1878) 126 Language always makes gift of its best wealth to a great poet. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown i. ix, Wouldn't have them at a gift. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. II. lxv. 486 The minor appointive offices which lie in his own gift. |
| Prov. 1583 Fulke Defence xv. 403 The prouerb is, what is so free as gift? |
† b. to give a gift (
= earlier
to give a give): to give assurance
that.
Obs. (See
give v.)
2. Law.
a. The transference of property in a thing by one person to another, voluntarily and without any valuable consideration.
| α 1480 Waterf. Arch. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 314 The saide feftments, yefts, graunts, and lesses. 1483 Act 1 Rich. III, c. i. §1 Every astate feoffement yeft relesse graunte lesis and confirmacion of landys. |
| γ c 1471 in Paston Lett. No. 679 III. 21 A box with the dede of gyfft off J.P. 1558 Extracts Aberd. Reg. (1844) I. 314 Be this our letter of gyft and donatioune. 1590 Swinburne Testaments 16 Of gifts in case of death there be three sortes. c 1590, 1613 Deed of gift [see deed n. 4]. 1767 Blackstone Comm. II. 440 Gifts are always gratuitous, grants are upon some consideration or equivalent. 1838 Penny Cycl. XI. 217/2 To complete a gift of goods and chattels delivery is absolutely necessary. |
| fig. 1729 E. Erskine in Agnew Theol. Consolat. (1881) 109 There is a deed of gift or grant made by the Father to all the hearers of the Gospel. |
b. (See
quots. 1818, 1876.)
| 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) IV. 63 A gift, donatio, is properly applied to the creation of an estate tail; as a feoffment is to that of an estate in fee simple. 1827 Jarman Powell's Devises II. 295 The word ‘against’ was construed without, to make it alternative to the other gift. 1876 Digby Real Prop. x. §1. 378 A feoffment was technically confined to an estate in fee simple, the conveyance of an estate tail by the same process was technically called a gift. |
II. The thing given.
3. a. Something, the possession of which is transferred to another without the expectation or receipt of an equivalent; a donation, present. Also preceded by qualifying words, as
Christmas-gift,
Easter-gift,
New Year's, etc. gift.
Grecian gift (see
Virg. æn. ii. 49): some seeming favour or concession on the part of an enemy, suspected to be offered with sinister motive.
| α c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1416 Ðe broðer and de moder oc Riche ȝiftes eliezer ðe toc. c 1275 Lay. 1790 Þo hafde Brutus þe ȝeft: þat Dyanne him bi-hehte. c 1350 Will. Palerne 5357 Sterne stedes & strong, & oþer stoute ȝiftes. 1401 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 27 Why make ye not your feasts to poore men, and yeveth him yefts, as yee done to the rich. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour C ij, I pray yow alle that it plese yow to graunte me a bone and a yefte. |
| β 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 46 Be nathan david sone also ȝyfth or thynge ȝoven is signyfyed. |
| γ a 1300 Cursor M. 3319 He hir gaue a gift onan, A gold ring. Ibid. 3339 Ilkan gaue he giftes sere. c 1460 Launfal 67 The quene yaf gyftes for the nones..Her curtasye to kythe. 1539 Taverner Erasm. Prov. (1552) 26 The mynde of giftes is best. 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 67 Also that you..shall confesse that you receive the citie as a gift, and not rendred as a right to the kyng your Master. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iii. xxii. 112 [They] went through the city demanding their new yeres gifts of al those they met. 1632 Sanderson Serm. 491 The one eye vpon the guift and the other vpon the Giver. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 735 Both when we wake, And when we seek, as now, thy gift of sleep. 1781 Cowper Hope 115 Life is His gift, from whom whate'er life needs, And every good and perfect gift, proceeds. 1832 S. R. Maitland Albig. & Waldenses iii. 66 The candour of Gibbon is..so remarkable that I wonder Milner did not reject the Grecian gift. 1884 Browning Ferishtah (1885) 38 Giving is giving, gift claims gift's return. |
| Proverbs. c 1460 How Gd. Wif taught hir Dau. 70 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 185 Bounden he is that ȝifte takithe, my dere childe. 1546 J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 30 Throw no gyft agayne at the geuers head. |
b. Something of value proceeding from a specified source, quasi-personified as a giver.
| 1796 H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) I. 252 These precious gifts of the Waters [fisheries] are presented to all Nations. 1871 Morley Voltaire (1886) 4 The ever⁓living gifts of Grecian art and architecture and letters. |
† c. A fee for services rendered.
Obs.—1| 1477 Paston Lett. No. 808 III. 214 Hery Cook wold goo with your swanes, for hys yefte chuld be vjs. viijd. and there fore he wold yeffe you his labore, be so ye payd for his costes. |
† d. pl. Applied to almshouses founded by a specified person.
Obs.| 1651 T. Barker Art of Angling Epist., I live in Henry the 7th's Gifts. |
e. In kindergartens, one of a series of educative toys designed to develop the child's powers of observation, etc.
| 1855 E. von Wickerode tr. von Marenholtz's Woman's Educ. Mission 19 The little gymnastic games for the hands and fingers connected with the ‘First Gift’, answer the triple end of amusing, occupying, and educating the infant. 1892 C. M. Yonge That Stick II. xxxix. 195 The elder children..were busied..in building up coloured cubes, ‘gifts’ in Kindergarten parlance. 1892 ― Old Woman's Outlook 80 Children are supposed to learn multiplication rationally by proof on the abacus frame, or by the ‘gifts’ of the Kindergarten. 1905 J. H. Boardman Educ. Ideas of Froebel & Pestalozzi iv. 48 According to the general definition of the term, there are altogether twenty Gifts, although most Kindergartners now limit the name to the first six or seven. |
4. An offering to God or to a heathen deity.
| α 1382 Wyclif Matt. v. 24 Leeue there thi ȝift before the auter. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xvii. 390 He..offred a riche yefte vpon the awter. |
| γ a 1300 Cursor M. 10218 Ilkan þan to þe temple broght Sirekin gift after þai moght. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. xxxiv. §3. 70 Gifts are offered vnto God not as supplies of his want. 1611 Bible Matt. v. 23, 24. 1895 Daily News 30 Oct. 4/7 The Deodand, or gift to God. |
5. Something given with a corrupting intention; a bribe.
Obs. as a specific sense.
The existence of this sense seems to be implied
a 1300 in
Cursor M. 17464 (Gött.) Þai war for gifte [
read forgifte,
bribed] þe soth to hele.
| α 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. iii. 90 Fuir schal falle and brenne atte laste Þe houses and þe homes of hem þat desyreþ For to haue ȝiftes. 1382 Wyclif Deut. xvi. 19 Thou shalt not accept persone, ne ȝiftis, for ȝiftis blynden eyen of wise men. |
| γ 1549 Latimer 3rd Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 89 Wo worth these giftes, they subuert iustyce euerye where. 1594 Willobie in Shaks. C. Praise 10 For giftes the wysest will deceave. 1611 Bible 2 Chron. xix. 7 There is no iniquitie with the Lord our God..nor taking of gifts. |
6. a. A faculty, power, or quality miraculously bestowed,
e.g. upon the apostles and other early Christians; a Christian virtue looked upon as an emanation from the Holy Ghost; extended further to endowments bestowed by heathen deities or some supernatural agent;
occas. in sense of inspiration.
the gift of tongues: see
tongue.
| α c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 69 We ne maȝen þe fond from us driue, ne mid sworde ne mid kniue, bute hit beo þurh godes ȝifte. a 1225 Ancr. R. 28 Uor ðe seoue ȝiftes of ðe Holi Goste, ðet ich mote habben ham. 1382 Wyclif Acts viii. 20 Thou gessidist the ȝifte of God for to be had..by money. c 1449 Pecock Repr. 181 The ȝiftis of gracis, the glories of heuen bihiȝt ben to alle Cristene passyng greete benefetis. |
| β 1340 Ayenb. 200 Nou we willeþ zigge uerst of þe yefþe of onderstondinge be þan þet þe holy gost wile ous teche. |
| γ a 1300 Cursor M. 19007 Of haligast þe giftes sere, Gin us he has als yee se here. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lxxxiv. 265 Amonge other [ladyes of y⊇ fayrye] there was one that gaue me y⊇ gyft to be suche one as ye se that I am. 1605 Camden Rem. (1637) 6 That admirable gift hereditary to the anointed Princes of this Realme, in curing the Kings Evill. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 715 Pandora, whom the Gods Endowd with all thir gifts. 1704 Nelson Fest. & Fasts xxi. (1739) 258 Having a Power to impart the same Gift to others. 1709 Strype Ann. Ref. (1824) I. xxv. 254 He did begin to write, but he could bring nothing to pass: his gift was not come to him. 1732 Berkeley Serm. S.P.G. Wks. 1871 III. 241 We have not the gift of miracles. 1834 J. H. Newman Par. Serm. I. i. 13 To obtain the gift of holiness is the work of a life. 1875 Manning Mission H. Ghost xiii. 359 Now the gift of intellect or understanding is precisely that gift of the Holy Spirit which enables us to understand the meaning of what we believe. 1876 Mozley Univ. Serm. xi. (1877) 216 Faith is not only an excellent gift, a sublime gift, but it is a gift full of present happiness. |
b. A natural endowment, faculty, ability, or talent. Also
natural gift,
gift of God or nature.
gift of the gab: (
colloq.) see
gab 1 b.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 23892 Sum for mar and sum for less, Efter þat vr giftes ess. 1504 W. Atkynson tr. De Imitatione iii. lx. 252 Gyftes of nature be gyuen Indyfferentlye to good folke and euyll. 1573 J. Sandford Hours Recr. (1576) Ep. Ded. A 5 Hir vertues and giftes of minde. 1588 J. Udall Demonstr. Discip. xi. (Arb.) 49 For some hath an excellent gift in doctrine, and not in application. 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. 115 Imagining that all the guiftes of God should die in themselues, if they should bee taken out of the worlde. 1647 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. v. (1739) 12 Austin had also a gift or trick of working miracles. 1693 S. Harvey in Dryden's Juvenal ix. (1697) 231 The Gifts of Nature, what will they avail? 1710 S. Sewall Diary 2 Dec. (1879) II. 294, I have heard he had a good Gift in Prayer. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 128 ¶1 As Vivacity is the Gift of Women, Gravity is that of Men. 1769 Junius Lett. i. 8 Nature has been sparing of her gifts to the noble lord. 1814 Wordsw. Excurs. i. 78 Endowed with highest gifts, The vision and the faculty divine. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vii. II. 229 He was in the habit of exercising his spiritual gifts at their meetings. 1856 Sir B. Brodie Psychol. Inq. I. i. 29 The faculty of reasoning correctly..is for the most part a natural gift. 1871 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xvii. 99 He was displaying in Normandy the gifts of the wise lawgiver and firm administrator. 1882 C. Pebody Eng. Journalism xix. 144 The precise gifts that are needed in a special correspondent. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. II. liii. 328 [Hamilton's] countrymen seem to have never..duly recognized his splendid gifts. |
7. slang. (See
quots.)
| 1832 Examiner 187/2 [They] asked him if he would join them in a good thing, which was to carry away a landlord's till of money, and that it would be a ‘gift’ (an easy task). 1859 Slang Dict., Gift, any article which has been stolen and afterwards sold at a low price. |
8. A white speck on the finger-nails, supposed to portend a gift.
| 1708 Brit. Apollo No. 17. 2/1 Q. What is the Cause of little white Spots, which sometimes grow under the Nails of the Fingers? And what is the reason they say they are Gifts? A. The reason of their being call'd Gifts is as Wise an one as that of Letters, Winding Sheets, &c. in a Candle. 1796 in Grose's Dict. Vulg. Tongue (ed. 3). 1854 Knight Once upon a Time II. 269 We showed each other the gifts on our nails. 1886 in Chesh. Gloss. |
9. attrib. and
Comb. a. simple
attrib., as
gift-copy,
gift-money,
gift-package,
gift-picture.
b. objective, as
gift-bearer,
gift-giving,
gift-taker;
† gift-greedy adj. c. instrumental, as
gift-laden adj. Also
gift-book, a book given as a present; a book published in an attractive form, such as is suitable for a present, a school prize, etc.;
gift coupon, a coupon issued with certain commodities, a specified number of which entitles the holder to a free gift;
gift-enterprise U.S. (see
quot.);
gift-exchange (see
quot. 1963);
gift-food, food given in charity;
gift-horse, a horse given as a present: see also
horse n. 21;
gift-house (see
quot.);
† gift-sermon, a sermon that is paid for by an endowment;
gift shop orig. U.S., a shop dealing in articles suitable for gifts; also with pseudo-archaic spelling,
gifte-shoppe;
gift-token or
voucher, a voucher (intended to serve as a gift) for a sum of money to pay for the purchase of an article;
gift-wrap v. trans. (
orig. U.S.), to wrap (an article intended as a gift) attractively; also
absol. and
fig.; hence
gift-wrapped ppl. adj.;
gift-wrapping vbl. n. (also
attrib.).
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 155/2 A *Gift berer, doniferus, munifer. |
| 1834 Knickerbocker III. 113 It is, I believe, your standing *gift-book. 1842 (title) The royal gift book for the young. 1848 D. Vedder (title) The pictorial giftbook of lays and lithography. 1868 Publisher's Pref. to Watts' Improv. Mind, As a gift-book to advanced scholars it is most appropriate. 1886 T. Frost Remin. Country Journalist viii. (1888) 94 They..wished to use them [engravings] in the production of a gift-book. |
| 1832 Mrs. Trollope in L'Estrange Friendsh. Miss Mitford (1882) I. 238 Mr. Howe told him that all the *gift copies were already sent. |
| 1931 Morning Post 18 Feb. 6/5 The ‘*Gift’ Coupon system. 1933 D. L. Sayers Murder must Advertise iv. 54 It only needed the alteration of a sentence and the introduction of a panel about gift-coupons. |
| 1893 Funk's Stand. Dict., *Gift-enterprise, a business that offers gifts to secure patrons or purchasers. |
| 1936 R. Linton Study of Man 144 All trade was phrased in terms of *gift exchange. 1951 R. Firth Elem. Social Organiz. i. 21 Such diverse social relations as buying and selling, gift-exchange, [etc.]. 1963 Brit. Jrnl. Sociol. XIV. 26 Gift exchange..describes a type of transaction which formally consists in the making of a gift and its repayment by another. |
| 1865 Daily Tel. 6 Dec. 4/5 The danger was..that the dangerous habit of living upon *gift-food would demoralise the recipients. |
| 1937 M. Mead Cooperation & Competition among Primitive Peoples i. 22 All this importation is phrased as *gift giving between devoted friends. 1949 ― Male & Female 408 The fish were then exchanged in a gift-giving context. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang Schoolch. xii. 236 Sometimes..the older children take advantage of the gift-giving and play tricks. |
| c 1611 Chapman Iliad iv. 118 With this, the mad- *gift-greedie man, Minerua did perswade. |
| 1663 Butler Hud. i. i. 490 He ne'er consider'd it, as loth To look a *Gift-Horse in the mouth. 1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville II. 249 The Captain..put spurs to his very fine gift-horse. |
| 1893 Farmer Slang, *Gift-house (or Gift), (printers'), a club; a house of call; specifically for the purpose of finding employment, or providing allowances for members. |
| 1895 Daily News 27 Dec. 2/5 A giant Christmas tree, constituted of some hundreds of the *gift-laden firs of the nursery. |
| 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Mark i. 12–15 Thou haste receyued the holy ghoste as it were *gifte money, a bond, and an earnest penye of thy salarye. |
| 1897 Bailey Fruit-growing 416 In all the finest fruits the grower should use nothing but a *gift-package, that is, one which is given away with the fruit when it is sold. |
| 1862 Thornbury Turner II. 128 Men never valued *gift pictures so much as those in which they had invested money. |
| 1766 Entick London IV. 64 Here is a *gift-sermon every Tuesday..well endowed by lady Cambden. |
| 1918 C. Wells Vicky Van i. 10 Little faddly prize bags of *gift-shop novelties are her stakes. 1929 Gift shop [see art v.2 5]. 1932 E. Bowen To North xxi. 229 There are too many shops... Especially gift shops. 1948 J. Cannan Little I Understood xi. 136 Expensive and financially unstable gifte shoppes. |
| 1549 Latimer 3rd Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 94 He was no *gyfte taker, he was no wynker, he was no bywalker. |
| 1963 She Dec. 51 Best leg forward in 1964 with a *gift token for nylon stockings. |
| Ibid., Make life easier for a hard-working house-wife whose feet are killing her with a Scholl *Gift Voucher entitling her to one or a set of foot massaging sessions. 1969 Times 17 Dec. 18/5 (Advt.), Who's lucky? Everybody who gets a gift voucher for two tickets. |
| 1936 Amer. Speech XI. 101/1 During the holiday season many department stores advertised, ‘We *Gift-Wrap Here.’ 1948 in Amer. Speech (1956) XXXI. 210 Ready to gift-wrap your package. 1958 Economist 20 Dec. 1083/2 Whatever he buys will be professionally gift-wrapped for him. 1969 New Yorker 11 Oct. 146/3 (Advt.), We gift wrap and ship everywhere. |
| 1964 Punch 16 Dec. 936/3 People..pile them [sc. cars] up with *gift-wrapped presents. |
| 1949 Word Study May 8/1 (caption to cartoon) *Gift Wrapping. 1963 M. McCarthy Group xi. 240 They also sold..Valentines and gift-wrapping paper. |
Add:
[II.] [9.] gift wrap n., a gift-wrapping, (
orig. U.S.) wrapping-paper for a gift.
| 1971 Woman 4 Dec. 78 (Advt.), This Christmas you can buy her Miss Lenthéric [toiletries] in special *gift wraps from 57p. 1980 Christian Science Monitor (Midwestern ed.) 4 Dec. b8/3 (Advt.), We also have Hallmark gift wrap. 1985 Company Dec. 51/1 As for giftwrap and all that time wasted pulling the ends of shiny ribbon with the scissor blades..that is decidedly out. |
▪ II. gift, v. (
gɪft)
[f. gift n.] 1. trans. To endow or furnish with gifts (see chiefly
gift n. 6); to endow, invest, or present
with as a gift.
| 15.. Wife in Morel's Skin C j b, The friendes that were together met He [printed Be] gyfted them richely with right good speede. 1608 W. Sclater Malachy (1650) 197 See how the Lord gifted him above his brethren. 1621 Sanderson 12 Serm. (1637) 396 If God have not gifted us for it, he hath not called us to it. 1677 W. Hubbard Narrative (1865) I. 61 He was better gifted than any other of the Indian Nation. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones i. v, Nothing but the inspiration with which we writers are gifted can possibly enable anyone to make the discovery. 1826 E. Irving Babylon II. viii. 282 When they were gifted with the self same Spirit with which Moses had been gifted. 1834 T. Medwin Angler in Wales I. 290 How admirably Nature had provided..by gifting it [the salmon] with a form of all others the best adapted for [etc.]. 1844 Mrs. Browning Rom. Swan's Nest, The world must love and fear him Whom I gift with heart and hand. 1884 Rogers 6 Cent. Work & Wages I. 126 Many settlements, which afterwards grew into towns, were gifted subsequently with parliamentary representation. |
b. To invest with a charm; to impart a fascination to.
rare—1.
| 1853 G. Johnston Nat. Hist. E. Bord. I. 141, I may not dwell on scenes and events which the pen of Scott has gifted. |
2. To bestow as a gift; to make a present of. Const. with
to or dative. Also with
away. Chiefly
Sc.| 1619 J. Sempill Sacrilege 31 If they object, that tithes, being gifted to Levi, in official inheritance, can stand no longer than Levi [etc.]. a 1639 Spottiswood Hist. Ch. Scot. v. (1677) 278 The recovery of a parcel of ground which the Queen had gifted to Mary Levinston. 1711 in A. McKay Hist. Kilmarnock (1880) 98 This bell was gifted by the Earl of Kilmarnock to the town of Kilmarnock for their Council⁓house. 1754 Erskine Princ. Sc. Law i. (1809) 51 Where a fund is gifted for the establishment of a second minister, in a parish where the cure is thought too heavy for one [etc.]. 1801 Ranken Hist. France I. 301 Parents were prohibited from selling, gifting, or pledging their children. 1829 J. Brown New Deeside Guide (1876) 19 College of Blairs..having been gifted to the Church of Rome by its proprietor. 1839 Alison Europe xlii. §71 (1849–50) VII. 155 Thus did Napoleon and d'Oubril gift away Sicily. 1878 J. C. Lees Abbey of Paisley xix. 201 The Regent Murray gifted all the Church Property to Lord Sempill. |
Hence
ˈgifting vbl. n. and ppl. a.| 1619 J. Sempill Sacrilege App. 4 Was Abraham so idle in gifting? Jacob so superstitious in vowing? 1671 True Nonconf. 163 Our Lords most gracious gifting. 1796 T. Townshend Poems 32 Where once thy gifting hand did weave Garlands of glory for the poet's head. 1875 Whitney Life Lang. xiv. 302 A gifting of man, at his birth, not with capacities alone. |