n. 1
Something given to another voluntarily, without charge.
She gave him a cell phone as a birthday gift.
n. 2
A talent or natural ability.
She had a gift for playing the flute.
v. 1
To give as a gift or donation.

Related words

Word family: giftlet giftling
Phrases: gift card gift voucher gift certificate gift token bride gift gift of gab gift of tongues gift suite
Is a kind of: money object

Forms

Plural: gifts → talents, abilities, faculties, geniuses…
Past participle: gifted
e.g. gifted → endowed, contributed, invested, empowered…

Choose the right word

Gift or Bribe?

A gift is in the popular, and also in the legal sense that which is voluntarily bestowed without expectation of return or compensation. Gift is now almost always used in the good sense, bribe always in the evil sense to signify payment for a dishonorable service under the semblance of a gift.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

donation Every donation feels like planting a seed of hope.
endowment The university's endowment grew 10% in the last year alone.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
gift		rising
donation		rising
endowment		steady

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters: give¹, turn¹, dole¹, alms¹
5 letters: power², grant¹, favor², flair¹, knack¹, forte², endow², dower¹, endue
6 letters: giving², talent², legacy³, genius², favour², invest², donate², bounty²
7 letters: present², ability⁴, charity³, faculty³, subsidy³, empower³, bequest², fairing
8 letters: strength¹, capacity⁴, offering³, blessing², donation³, aptitude³, gratuity⁴, largesse², oblation
9 letters: allowance³, endowment³, ingenuity⁵
10 letters: contribute³, capability⁵
11 letters: benefaction
12 letters: contribution⁴, presentation⁴

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (power² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: cadeau
Español: regalo
Deutsch: Geschenk
Català: regal