En*dow"ment (?), n.

1.

The act of bestowing a dower, fund, or permanent provision for support.

2.

That which is bestowed or settled on a person or an institution; property, fund, or revenue permanently appropriated to any object; as, the endowment of a church, a hospital, or a college.

3.

That which is given or bestowed upon the person or mind; gift of nature; accomplishment; natural capacity; talents; -- usually in the plural.

His early endowments had fitted him for the work he was to do. I. Taylor.

 

© Webster 1913.