adjective
gratuitous
Given without requiring payment or anything in return.
The agreement described the transfer as gratuitous.
Etymology
Latin gratuitus meant freely given or done without payment. This sense keeps the idea that the recipient owes nothing in exchange.
More examples
- He made a gratuitous donation with no expectation of return.
- The legal text distinguished a paid service from a gratuitous one.
- The owner granted a gratuitous use of the room.
Forms
gratuitous
Similar words
- voluntary
- Voluntary means freely chosen; gratuitous specifically means provided without compensation.
- uncompensated
- Uncompensated means unpaid; gratuitous can describe a benefit freely conferred without an exchange.