benevolent

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English benevolent, also benivolent,^[2] borrowed from Old French benivolent, also benvolent,^[3][4][5] and directly borrowed from Latin benevolēns (“wishing well, kindly”),^[4][6][7] formed from bene (“well”) and volēns (“wishing”), the present participle of volō (“to wish, will”).^[4][3][7][8] Barnhart names the French source Middle French.^[6] The Latin participle is related to benevolentia (“good feeling”),^[4] the source of benevolence, which English had earlier, from about 1384 in the OED and about 1400 in Etymonline.^[3][4] The American Heritage Dictionary traces the two Latin parts to Proto-Indo-European *deu- and Proto-Indo-European *wel-,^[7] and Etymonline and Merriam-Webster relate the verb to English will.^[4][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Well-disposed, friendly, helpful, and as a noun a well-wisher or benefactor: about 1443, in Pecock's Rule.^[2] Barnhart also dates the word to about 1443,^[6] while the OED's first quotation is from 1482, in the Monk of Evesham.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From the start the adjective described a general habit of mind, a wish for the good of others and a kindly, charitable disposition (1482).^[3] From about 1503 it was also used with the literal force of the Latin, well-wishing or well-disposed towards a particular person.^[3][10] Before 1676 it was transferred to things, in the sense "kindly, fostering".^[3] Johnson (1755) defined it as "kind; having good will, or kind inclinations", quoting Pope's Odyssey: "benevolent as wise".^[11] The related noun benevolence had a pointed historical sense: from 1473 it named the forced loans that English kings levied without legal authority, first so called when Edward IV "asked" for them as a token of good will.^[4][3][12] In modern use the adjective also describes charitable bodies set up to help people rather than to make a profit.^[13][14]

Timeline

• c. 1443 – well-disposed, friendly; as a noun, a well-wisher.^[2][6]
• 1482 – of a kindly, charitable disposition.^[3]
• c. 1503 – well-wishing, well-disposed towards a particular person.^[3][10]
• before 1676 – of things, kindly, fostering.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Wishing to do good to others; kindly and generous: a benevolent grandfather.^[13][9][3]
2. Showing goodwill; without hostility: She gave the newcomers a benevolent nod.^[9][13]
3. Set up to help others rather than to make a profit; charitable: a benevolent association for retired nurses.^[13][14]

Word family

• benevolently
• benevolentness
• nonbenevolent
• unbenevolent

Related words

• benefactor
• beneficent
• benevolence
• malevolent
• voluntary
• will

Usage notes

Benevolent shares with charitable, eleemosynary and philanthropic the sense of having to do with charity, as when speaking of a fund or a foundation.^[14]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
13. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
14. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin