The other way in which the language has degenerated is through the fall of words from the nobility of their original meanings into the base and improper use made of them by modern man. Of those English words which have changed their meaning since 1611, all have taken a turn for the worse. We never find a word acquiring a higher meaning. It means to precede or go before. Yet, because whenever one man got ahead of another it was generally to his own advantage, and to the hindrance or hurt of the other, the word has taken on the lower meaning of to stop someone or something from going forward.
Charity is a beautiful word taken from the old French charitet, which means dearness.
The word is used in the Authorized Version for the particular love between members of the body of Christ. Because man has sunk into a mercenary spirit and would rather throw a few dollars at someone's need than bear his burden, charity has been limited to the realm of the collection and distribution of money. Yielding to this pressure the modern versions have replaced the word charity with love, thus making the relationships believers are to have with the lost the same as those they are to have with the brethren. Any open-eyed observer can behold the fruits of this dreadful error. Villain meant a servant of a villa, which is a country farm house.