Noun
The act of bestowing a dower, fund, or permanent provision for support.
That which is bestowed or settled on a person or an institution; property, fund, or revenue permanently appropriated to any object; as, the endowment of a church, a hospital, or a college.
That which is given or bestowed upon the person or mind; gift of nature; accomplishment; natural capacity; talents; -- usually in the plural.
Source: Webster's dictionaryNo nation has reason to regard itself superior to others by virtue of its innate endowment. Claude Adrien Helvétius
Every human life involves an unfathomable mystery, for man is the riddle of the universe, and the riddle of man in his endowment with personal capacities. Harry Emerson Fosdick
I believe in "intelligence," and I believe also that there are inherited differences in intellectual ability, but I do not believe that intelligence is a simple scalar endowment that can be quanitified by attaching a single figure to it-an I. Q. or the like. Peter Medawar
What liberals mean by 'goose-stepping' or 'ethnic cleansing' is generally something along the lines of 'eliminating taxpayer funding for the National Endowment for the Arts.' But they can't say that, or people would realize they're crazy. Ann Coulter
The military has more than 130 bands with more than 6000 musicians, costing about a half-billion dollars a year. Meanwhile the National Endowment for the Arts gets $155M, a paltry amount compared to other advanced democracies. Arts & artists should be robustly funded & supported! Marianne Williamson
This funding from the National Endowment for the Arts has been like the Good Housekeeping seal of approval. Norm Dicks