dotation

noun

1. (countable, literary, rare, uncountable)The act of dotating or bestowing something; endowment, or an instance of this.

   “Neyther is it to bee forgotten, that this dedicating of Foundations and Dotations to profeſſory Learning, hath not onely had a Maligne aſpect, and influence vpon the growth of Scyences, but hath alſo been preiudiciall to States and gouernments.”

   “As to eleemoſynary corporations, by the dotation the founder and his heirs are of common right the legal viſitors, to ſee that that property is rightly employed, which would otherwiſe have deſcended to the viſitor himſelf: […]”

   “The Minister of Finance presented the bill asking for a dotation for the President. The question was an embarrassing one for the Assembly. If they granted it, it would be giving additional power to him. If they refused, he would become an object of sympathy, and still gain power.”

   “Interminable debates followed as to whether the matter should be entrusted to one supreme commissioner or whether each bishopric should have its own, and what should be their functions and powers; also as to the sources from which the dotations of the rectories and the pay of the preachers should be drawn, together with numerous other details.”

   “I declare that the substantial conquests in the dotation of land to the workmen of the field and the guarantees given in favor of the workmen and labor unions should be the basis of our economic organization.”

2. (countable, historical, uncountable)A grant of revenues from territory conquered by the French Empire (c. 1804–1814).