bénéfice

Forms

bénéfice m (plural bénéfices)^[1] Old French benefice.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin beneficium (“kindness, service, favour”), formed from the phrase bene (“well”) faciō (“to do”), “to do good, render a service”.^[3][4][5] In Medieval Latin it was an important feudal term: a gift made as a favour or reward (7th century), a land held in tenure (about 642), and the property attached to a church office (9th–10th centuries).^[3] It is the learned counterpart of bienfait.^[3]

Cognate with Occitan benefici, Spanish beneficio and Italian benefizio.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1198 meaning “service, favour”;^[4][6][3] Bloch and Wartburg give 1192.^[4][6][3]

Semantic evolution

In medieval law it became the church office endowed with property (1223), the usual sense until the Revolution, now called bénéfice ecclésiastique; it also named land granted to a vassal for military service (1300–1350).^[3] English took benefice in the church sense about 1300.^[7]

In the classical period it meant a favour granted by law or the sovereign (1680), as in bénéfice d'inventaire and the figurative sous bénéfice d'inventaire “with reservations”.^[3] Bloch and Wartburg trace these legal uses to Roman law.^[6] The commercial sense, “gain, profit”, appears with Furetière (1690), and apart from phrases such as au bénéfice de “for the benefit of” it is now the main use.^[3] It has been familiarly clipped to bénef since 1842.^[3]

Timeline

• 1198 – First record, for a service or favour.^[4][3]
• 1223 – It names an ecclesiastical living.^[3]
• c. 1300 – English benefice is recorded.^[7]
• 1680 – Bénéfice d'inventaire is recorded.^[3]
• 1690 – Furetière records the commercial sense “profit”.^[3]
• 1842 – The clipping bénef appears.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. An advantage gained from something: le bénéfice du doute.^[8][9][10]
2. Au bénéfice de: for the benefit of, in aid of.^[8][9]
3. (law) A privilege granted by law: bénéfice d'inventaire.^[8][9]
4. (commerce) A profit from a commercial or financial operation.^[10][1]
5. (history) An ecclesiastical benefice, or land granted by a lord to a vassal.^[9][10]

Word family

• bénéficiaire
• bénéficiel
• bénéficier

Related words

• bénéfique
• maléfice
• bienfait
• Latin beneficium

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)