boon
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also bon
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[edit] English
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Etymology 1
From Middle English boon (“prayer”), from Old Norse bόn (“prayer, petition”), from Proto-Germanic *bōniz (“supplication”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰāni-, *bʰā- (“to say”). Influenced by boon (“good, favorable”, a). Cognate with Swedish bön (“prayer, petition, request”), Danish bøn (“prayer”), Old English bēn (“prayer, request, favor, compulsory service”). More at ben.
[edit] Noun
boon (plural boons)
- (obsolete) A prayer; petition.
- (archaic) That which is asked or granted as a benefit or favor; a gift; a favour; benefaction; a grant; a present.
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- Every good gift and every perfect boon is from above — James I. 17
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- A good; a blessing or benefit; a great privilege; a thing to be thankful for.
- Finding the dry cave was a boon to the weary travellers.
- Anaesthetics are a great boon to modern surgery.
- (UK dialectal) An unpaid service due by a tenant to his lord.
[edit] Quotations
- For which to God he made so many an idle boon — Edmund Spenser
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Antonyms
[edit] Translations
A blessing or benefit
a gift; a benefaction; a grant; a present
a prayer or petition
[edit] Etymology 2
From Middle English boon, bone, from Old Northern French boon, Old French bon (“good”), from Latin bonus (“good”), from Old Latin duonus, dvenos, from Proto-Indo-European *dū- (“to respect”).
[edit] Adjective
boon (not comparable)
- (obsolete) good; prosperous; as, "boon voyage"
- kind; bountiful; benign
- gay; merry; jovial; convivial
- He was a boon companion to have around
- 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses Episode 16
- --No, Mr Bloom repeated again, I wouldn't personally repose much trust in that boon companion of yours who contributes the humorous element, if I were in your shoes.
[edit] Translations
kind; bountiful; benign
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gay; merry; jovial; convivial
[edit] Quotations
- Which ... Nature boon Poured forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain — John Milton
- A boon companion, loving his bottle — John Arbuthnot
[edit] Anagrams
[edit] Dutch
[edit] Etymology
From Old Dutch *bōna, from Proto-Germanic *baunō.
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Noun
boon f. and m. (plural bonen, diminutive boontje)
Categories:
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old Norse
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English nouns
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English archaic terms
- British English
- en:Dialectal
- English terms derived from Old Northern French
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Old Latin
- English adjectives
- English uncomparable adjectives
- Dutch terms derived from Old Dutch
- Dutch terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Dutch nouns
- nl:Vegetables