To give. Very frequently used.
1846. Friends of the cause in Massachusetts and other places donated liberally.—N.Y. Tribune, Nov. 6 (Bartlett).
1855. It is proposed that the Government shall donate—I beg pardon, I do not like that word “donate,”—shall grant alternate sections of land.—Mr. Keitt of South Carolina, House of Repr., Jan. 30: Cong. Globe, p. 481.
1859. [I object to] the principle of giving away the public property,—“donating” it, as the title of the bill says (a term which I think is unknown to the English language; I suppose it means giving).—Mr. Mason of Virginia, U.S. Senate, Feb. 1: id., p. 719.
