Gift

By extension, the term gift can refer to any item or act of service that makes the other happier or less sad, especially as a favor, including forgiveness and kindness.

[4]: xvi In the late 19th century, U.S. Christmas celebrations began to grow in scale, with more manufacturing of goods.

[4]: xix In Japan, Valentine's Day gift giving was introduced by Morozoff Ltd. in 1936,[5] and initially targeted foreigners living near Kobe.

[5] To fix the gender imbalance, White Day was introduced for the men to give back to women.

[5] The typical gift on Valentine's Day in Japan is giri choko ("obligation chocolate").

It may take the form of positive reinforcement as a reward for compliance, possibly for an underhand manipulative and abusive purpose.

[13] A gift that actually imposes a burden on the recipient, either due to maintenance or storage or disposal costs, is known as a white elephant.

One means of reducing the mismatch between the buyer and receivers' tastes is advance coordination, often undertaken in the form of a wedding registry or Christmas list.

[15][16] The total unredeemed value of gift cards purchased in the U.S. each year is estimated to be about a billion dollars.

Some groups, such as government workers, may have strict rules concerning gift giving and receiving so as to avoid the appearance of impropriety.

Lewis Hyde claims in The Gift that Christianity considers the Incarnation and subsequent death of Jesus to be the greatest gift to humankind, and that the Jataka contains a tale of the Buddha in his incarnation as the Wise Hare giving the ultimate alms by offering himself up as a meal for Sakka.

(Hyde, 1983, 58–60) In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the bread and wine that are consecrated during the Divine Liturgy are referred to as "the Gifts."