Abstract
This article examines charity within the Russian tradition as a socially important phenomenon. It explores the semantic content and lexical forms of the concept of charity in its historical and cultural context, across various stages of development. Special attention is given to how the phenomenon was conceptualized during key historical turning points, particularly in its conceptual framework. It is shown that a shift from a traditionally religious understanding to a more secular one is typical of Russian Enlightenment thinkers of the second half of the 18th century – N. I. Novikov and his contemporaries, as well as N. M. Karamzin. During this period, the word “charity” gained its current meaning. However, in the modern stage of development, the concept of charity is taking on new meanings, accompanied by the emergence of a system of borrowed lexical forms.