If you ask passers-by on the streets of any big city today what charity is, then they will surely tell you that to contemplate is to neglect someone, to show him that this person has a low social status. However, people confuse two related concepts - charity and contempt.
Let's talk about them in more detail.
What happens when we despise …
When we despise, we experience negative emotions for a certain person, we are full of arrogance and pride, therefore we allow someone not to respect. We consider a person’s act vile, vile, low and believe (deservedly or not) that the person himself is worthy of our contempt.
Thus, the prefix indicates that the speaker would like to distance himself from the phenomenon that he considers unseemly.
To mature is to show mercy
However, another word has a completely different meaning, the word "to contemplate." As we can see, a completely different prefix is used here.
In this case, there is a completely different meaning of the word. This expression comes from the verb "to despise." To mature is to provide help and care.
Therefore, since ancient times in Russia, charitable organizations have been called houses of care and charity. In general, the word "charity" appeared much later.
It turns out that so much depends on just one letter in the word prefix. The meaning is distorted. It is one thing to despise someone (for example, a homeless puppy or an orphan) or despise someone (a person whom you for one reason or another do not respect).
Note that these words are cognate. The root of them semantically goes back to the verb "to mature" - that is, to see. Therefore, to despise - not to want to see someone, to look at someone, is next to someone, and to contemplate - this, on the contrary, to look after someone, giving him support and help. That is, to wish that the one whom you are watching is near you.
