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alms

English

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alms¹

  • /ɑːmz/ UK
  • /ɑmz/ US
  • /ɑlmz/ US
  • /æmz/ US, obsolete

Sounds like arms (most non-rhotic accents) · Rhymes with -ɑːmz, -ɑːlmz

Where it comes from

From Middle English almes, almesse, ælmesse, from Old English ælmesse, from Proto-West Germanic *alemōsinā, a borrowing from Vulgar Latin *alemosyna, from Late Latin eleēmosyna, from Ancient Greek ἐλεημοσύνη (eleēmosúnē, “alms”), from ἐλεέω (eleéō, “to have mercy”), from ἔλεος (éleos, “mercy”). Compare Saterland Frisian Aalmoose (“alms”), Dutch aalmoes (“alms”), German Almosen (“alms”), Catalan almoina (“alms”), Portuguese esmola (“alms”), Galician esmola (“alms”), Spanish limosna (“alms”), French aumône (“alms”).

noun alms

  1. Something given to the poor as charity, such as money, clothing or food. She gave $10 weekly to the poor as alms, in an era when $10 was serious money.

ALMS²

proper noun

  1. abbreviation, initialism Initialism of American Le Mans Series, an enclosed-wheel enclosed-cockpit four-wheel custom-built prototype sports car racing series.
  2. abbreviation, initialism Initialism of Asian Le Mans Series, an enclosed-wheel enclosed-cockpit four-wheel custom-built prototype sports car racing series.

Alms³

Where it comes from

Borrowed from German Alms, but it could also be a variant of Alm.

proper noun Almses

  1. A surname from German.

ALMs⁴

noun

  1. plural plural of ALM

Translations

Every language

noun something given to the poor as charity

Españollimosna
한국어구호금 guhogeum, 의연금 uiyeon'geum
日本語施し物 hodokoshimono, 施し hodokoshi
中文施捨 /施舍 shīshě, 施捨物 /施舍物 shīshěwù, 救濟金 /救济金 jiùjìjīn
हिन्दीदान dān, ख़ैरात xairāt, भिक्षा bhikṣā, भीख bhīkh
Kiswahilisadaka
Portuguêsesmola
Françaisaumône
DeutschAlmosen
Italianoelemosina
Ελληνικάελεημοσύνη eleïmosýni
Românăpomană, milostenie
Русскийми́лостыня mílostynja, подая́ние podajánije
Tiếng Việtcủa bố thí, chẩn
العربيةصَدَقَة ṣadaqa, خَيْر ḵayr
עבריתצְדָקָה ts'daká, נְדָבָה n'davá

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MLA

"alms." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/alms. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

alms. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/alms

Chicago

"alms." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/alms.

BibTeX
@misc{alms_2026,
  title = {alms},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/alms},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}