donate

donate — verb

1. to offer money, clothes, food, or other useful items to a person or group that n

1.verbtransitive / intransitiveB1
Definition

to offer money, clothes, food, or other useful items to a person or group that needs help, usually without expecting anything in return.

Example

Iris donates part of her salary to the local animal shelter every month.

donate + noun + to + organization

The company decided to donate fifty laptops to schools in the area.

Common collocations
  • donate money
  • donate clothes
  • donate food
  • donate to charity
  • donate generously
Synonyms
  • contribute

    Often used when giving as part of a group effort, not necessarily the sole giver

  • give

    Less formal and broader in meaning; used for any kind of transfer, not just charitable

  • grant

    More formal; usually involves a large sum of money given by an institution after a formal process

Antonyms
  • keep

    To hold onto something rather than giving it away

  • withhold

    To deliberately not give something that could be given

Grammar Patterns

donate + noun + to + recipient

donate + to + organization / cause

Usage Note

Frequently transitive with a direct object (the item given) followed by 'to' + recipient. More formal than 'give' — use 'donate' for organized or charitable giving, and 'give' for informal, personal, or everyday situations.

Common Mistakes

I donated my old phone to my best friend.
I gave my old phone to my best friend.
'donate' is used for charitable or organized giving, not casual gifts between individuals.

2. to give blood or a body part such as a kidney so that doctors can use it to help

2.verbtransitive / intransitiveB1
Definition

to give blood or a body part such as a kidney so that doctors can use it to help someone who is sick or injured — for example, donating blood at a hospital or donating a kidney to a relative.

Example

Rin decided to donate blood at the hospital after learning about the shortage.

donate + blood

The doctor explained that anyone in good health can donate a kidney to a family member.

Common collocations
  • donate blood
  • donate a kidney
  • donate bone marrow
  • donate organs
  • organ donor
Synonyms
Antonyms
  • receive

    What a patient does when they get a donated organ or blood transfusion

Grammar Patterns

donate + blood / an organ / bone marrow

donate + body part + to + person

Usage Note

Subject is typically a healthy person. The body part or substance is always named as the direct object ('donate blood', 'donate a kidney', 'donate bone marrow'). Hospitals and clinics are recipients, not agents — patients receive donated organs, hospitals perform the transplant.

Common Mistakes

The hospital donated blood to the patient.
A volunteer donated blood to the hospital for the patient.
hospitals receive donations; they do not make them in this context.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

'Donate', 'contribute', 'give', and 'grant' all involve transferring something to someone, but they differ in context and formality. 'Donate' specifically implies giving to a charitable or medical cause without expecting anything back. 'Contribute' emphasizes joining others in giving toward a shared goal, such as contributing to a team fund. 'Give' is the broadest and most neutral term, covering everything from handing a gift to a friend to donating to a cause. 'Grant' is the most formal and typically refers to institutions awarding money after an application process, such as a university granting a research scholarship. For example, 'I donated clothes to the shelter' suggests charity, 'I contributed fifty dollars to the office gift' suggests joining a group effort, and 'I gave my brother a book' is a simple personal transfer.

donate ↗contribute ↗give ↗grant ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • donate in memory of someone
  • donate on behalf of someone

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinEnglish

The word 'donate' comes from the Latin verb 'donare', meaning 'to give as a gift'. It entered English in the mid-16th century, originally used in legal contexts, and later broadened to cover charitable, medical, and general giving.