Why this word is great
SPORTULE — [Noun] A small charitable gift or dole, historically a basket of provisions. From the Latin *sportula*, a diminutive of *sporta* ("a basket"), thus meaning "a little basket," which came to signify a gift or dole carried in such a basket. Unlike "alms," a general and impersonal charity, or "largess," a grand and showy bestowal, a sportule is a modest, institutionalized offering—the charity of routine, not of passion. It is the wicker hamper handed at the city gate, the measured portion of grain and olives, the expected, unceremonious handout that acknowledges dependence without relieving it; a ritualized kindness that contains compassion within a wicker frame, meted out one basket at a time.