Other forms: endowments
An endowment is a gift of money that keeps producing income. A university endowment, endow a chair, the endowment fund.
The capital is not spent: only the income is, which is what makes it permanent, and the great American universities have endowments larger than many national budgets. An endowment mortgage was a British product that went badly wrong in the 1990s.
1nounendowmentA gift of money that keeps producing income.
“The university's huge endowment pays for scholarships for poorer students.”
endowment is a fund.
From endow, from Old French douer, to give a dowry, from Latin dotare, from dos, a dowry.
Middle English
endowement
English, today
endowment
From Middle English endowement; equivalent to endow + ment.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA