altruism

altruism
\ \ [19] Etymologically as well as semantically, altruism contains the notion of ‘other people’. It was borrowed from French altruisme, which was apparently coined in 1830 by the philosopher Auguste Comte on the basis of Italian altruithat which belongs to other people’. This was the oblique case of altroother’, from Latin alter. Littré’s Dictionnaire de la langue française suggests that the coinage was based on such French legal phrases as le bien d’autruithe welfare of others’ and le droit d’autruithe rights of others’ (autrui corresponds to Italian altrui).
\ \ Cf.ALIAS, ALTER, ELSE

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Altruism — • A term formed by Auguste Comte in 1851, to denote the benevolent, as contrasted with the selfish propensities Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Altruism     Altruism      …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • altruism — ALTRUÍSM s.n. Atitudine morală sau dispoziţie sufletească a celui care acţionează dezinteresat în favoarea altora; doctrină morală care preconizează o asemenea atitudine. – Din fr. altruisme. Trimis de Alex, 25.11.2008. Sursa: DEX 98  Altruism ≠ …   Dicționar Român

  • altruism —    Altruism is disinterested benevolence. In other words, an action is altruistic if it is done solely for the benefit of another. Christian philosophers differ on whether it is possible for us to be altruistic. Hobbes took the extreme view that… …   Christian Philosophy

  • altruism — (n .) 1853, unselfishness, opposite of egoism, from Fr. altruisme, coined or popularized 1830 by French philosopher Auguste Comte (1798 1857), from autrui, from O.Fr. altrui, of or to others, from L. alteri, dative of alter other (see ALTER (Cf.… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Altruism — Al tru*ism, n. [F. altruisme (a word of Comte s), It. altrui of or to others, fr. L. alter another.] Regard for others, both natural and moral; devotion to the interests of others; brotherly kindness; opposed to {egoism} or {selfishness}.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • altruism — index benevolence (disposition to do good), charity, goodwill, humanity (humaneness), largess (generosity), philanthropy …   Law dictionary

  • altruism — [n] unselfish concern benevolence, charity, humanitarianism, kindness, magnanimity, philanthropy, public spirit, selflessness, social conscience; concept 633 …   New thesaurus

  • altruism — ► NOUN 1) unselfish concern for others. 2) Zoology behaviour of an animal that benefits another at its own expense. DERIVATIVES altruist noun altruistic adjective altruistically adverb. ORIGIN from Italian altrui somebody else , from Latin alteri …   English terms dictionary

  • altruism — [al′tro͞o iz΄əm] n. [Fr altruisme < It altrui or Fr autrui, of or to others < L alter, another: see ALTER] 1. unselfish concern for the welfare of others; selflessness 2. Ethics the doctrine that the general welfare of society is the proper …   English World dictionary

  • Altruism — Selflessness redirects here. For the 1965 jazz album, see Selflessness: Featuring My Favorite Things. Giving alms to the poor is often considered an altruistic action in many cultures and religions. Altruism …   Wikipedia

  • altruism — Behaviour which takes account of the interests of others, usually treated as in opposition to egoism, selfishness, and individualism . There are extensive theoretical and empirical research literatures in social psychology, economics, political… …   Dictionary of sociology

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