benefit

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English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Late Middle English benefytt, benefett, alteration (due to Latin bene-) of benfet, bienfet, bienfait (“good or noble deed”), from Anglo-Norman benfet (“well-done”), Middle French bienfait, from Old French bienfet, bienfait (“foredeal, favour”), from past participle of bienfaire (“to do good, do well”), from bien (“well”) + faire (“to do”), modelled after Latin benefactum (“good deed”). More at benefactor.

Pronunciation

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  • Audio (US):(file)

Noun

benefit (countable and uncountable, plural benefits)

  1. An advantage; help or aid from something.
    It was for her benefit
    His benefit was free beer.
  2. (insurance) A payment made in accordance with an insurance policy or a public assistance scheme.
  3. An event such as a performance, given to raise funds for some cause.
  4. (obsolete) beneficence; liberality
  5. Intended audience (as for the benefit of).
    The whole scene was staged for his benefit, and it completely fooled him.
    Since my wife is Canadian, whenever we have dinner with my family, they keep bringing up anything they've heard about Canada lately for her benefit.
    • 2020 April 16, Gary D.D. Morrison, J., “Succession de Kalimbet Piela c. Obodzinski, 2020 QCCS 1222”, in CanLII‎[1], retrieved 9 May 2021:
      So, if Obodzinski is correct in saying that Mrs. Piela actually signed a document in the coffee shop, in front of witnesses, she staged a scene, pretending that it was the alleged Mandate. The other explanation is that none of this ever took place, and the staging was only a fictitious creation for the benefit of the Court.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Verb

benefit (third-person singular simple present benefits, present participle benefiting or benefitting, simple past and past participle benefited or benefitted)

  1. (transitive) To be or to provide a benefit to.
  2. (intransitive) To receive a benefit (from); to be a beneficiary.
    • 1960 June, “Talking of Trains: New B.R. research laboratory”, in Trains Illustrated, page 329:
      Diesel maintenance schedules are benefiting from work done on the magnificent Hilger & Watts electronic spectrograph for oil analysis, which detects minute quantities of metals in samples of used lubricating oil; [...].
    • 2021 January 13, Christian Wolmar, “Read all about London's Cathedrals of Steam”, in RAIL, issue 922, page 63:
      Instead, the grime of the steam years which still discoloured many of the best architectural features Betjeman loved has been cleared away, and several of the stations have benefited from major refurbishments which have greatly improved them.

Usage notes

  • Benefiting and benefited are more common, with benefitting and benefitted being minor variants, more so in North America.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English benefit.

Noun

benefit m (invariable)

  1. benefit, advantage

Latin

Pronunciation

Verb

(deprecated template usage) benefit

  1. third-person singular present passive indicative of benefaciō
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