the fact of caring about the needs and happiness of other people and being willing to do things to help them, even if it brings no advantage to yourself 利他主义;利他;无私 Politicians are not necessarily motivated by pure altruism. 政治家不一定是被纯粹的利他主义所驱使。
Word Originmid 19th cent.: from French altruisme, from Italian altrui ‘somebody else’, from Latin alteri huic ‘to this other’.