The term donation has an interesting history. It was first mentioned in a 1425 history of Scotland, spelled as donatyowne. The word was borrowed from Old French donacioun, which in turn was derived from Latin donatio, meaning “present”. This Latin word originated from the verb donare (“to give as a gift”), which comes from the Latin word donum, meaning “gift”. It is believed that donum has its roots in the Proto-Indo-European root deh, which means “to give”.
The word donum also gave rise to other words such as Old French doneur (“one who gives”), which evolved into Anglo-French donour and English donor. It was also combined with the prefix per- (“thoroughly”) to create Old French pardoner, meaning “to give”, which eventually became the English word pardon. A similar evolution occurred with the prefix con- (“with”) and the word condone. The etymology of these words is truly fascinating!
