# contribution

Pronunciation: say "kon-tri-BYOO-shuhn" US /ˌkɑntɹɪˈbjuʃən/, UK /ˌkɒntɹɪˈbjuːʃən/

## Noun

1. Something supplied to help build, complete, or improve a larger whole.
   - Simple: Something you give or add that helps make a bigger thing complete.
   - _Her contribution to the report was the entire section on market trends._
   - _The volunteers' food and supplies were a welcome contribution to the relief effort._
2. An amount of money given to help fund a cause, project, or shared expense.
   - Simple: Money that you give to help pay for something.
   - _The senator returned the campaign contribution after questions about its source._
   - _Employees can set up an automatic monthly contribution to their retirement account._
3. The act of giving or adding something toward a larger effort, fund, or shared purpose.
   - Simple: The act of giving something to help a group or a shared goal.
   - _The encyclopedia depends on voluntary contribution from thousands of users._
   - _Active contribution during meetings is expected of everyone on the committee._
4. A person's part in a shared endeavor, especially work regarded as having advanced a field such as science or the arts.
   - Simple: Work or ideas that someone adds to a field, helping it move forward.
   - _Her contribution to genetics earned recognition long after her death._
   - _Historians still debate his contribution to the early development of computing._

## Origin

From Middle English contribucioun, borrowed via Old French contribution from Latin contribūtiō, which comes from the verb contribuēre. It can be analyzed as 'contribute' plus '-ion'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/contribution (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).