Use endow for large or lasting gifts, especially to universities, hospitals, museums, charities, scholarships, and academic posts. It is more formal and more permanent-sounding than donate.
Use endow for large or lasting gifts, especially to universities, hospitals, museums, charities, scholarships, and academic posts. It is more formal and more permanent-sounding than donate.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| The donor endowed to a scholarship. | The donor endowed a scholarship. |
| They endowed money to the hospital. | They endowed the hospital with money. |
| The chair was donated by a foundation. | The chair was endowed by a foundation. |
Use endow in the pattern endowed with when a person, thing, character, or place is described as having a notable quality. It is polished and literary, so give or have may be clearer in plain conversation.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| She is endowed by great patience. | She is endowed with great patience. |
| The design endows to the room warmth. | The design endows the room with warmth. |
| He was endowed a talent for music. | He was endowed with a talent for music. |
Endow is formal and often appears in finance, charity, education, law, and polished description. Use donate, fund, give, or provide when a simpler everyday verb is enough.
Endowed to a talent should be endowed with a talent. For money, endow a fund or endow an institution with money is more natural than endow money to.
From Middle English endowen, from Anglo-French endower, built from en- plus dower or douer, to give a dowry or provide. The deeper source is Latin dotare, from dos, meaning gift or dowry.
What does endow mean?
Endow means to provide money for lasting support, or to furnish someone or something with a quality, ability, or feature.
What does endowed with mean?
Endowed with means provided with or naturally having a quality, ability, feature, or resource.
Is endow formal?
Yes. Endow is fairly formal and is common in education, charity, law, finance, and polished description.
What is the difference between endow and donate?
Donate can describe any gift. Endow usually suggests a large or lasting gift that supports something over time.
What preposition is used with endow?
Use with for the thing given or possessed, as in endowed with talent or endowed the school with funds.
What are synonyms of endow?
Depending on the sense, synonyms include fund, finance, support, provide, equip, bless, and furnish.
What are the forms of endow?
The regular forms are endow, endows, endowed, and endowing.