Etymologically
Log in

benevolens

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 15:20. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [bɛˈnɛ.wɔ.ɫẽːs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [beˈnɛː.vo.lens][1]

Forms

benevolēns (genitive benevolentis, comparative benevolentior, superlative benevolentissimus); third-declension one-termination adjective[1] Manuscripts also have the spelling benivolēns.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is from Latin bene (“well”) + volō1 (“to wish”), from the present participle of the verb.[3][5][6] Lewis and Short call it the ante-classical counterpart of the classical benevolus.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus on,[5][6] in whose plays it is very frequent;[2] in the Casina mei benevolentes atque amici are “my well-wishers and friends”.[3]

Semantic evolution

In Plautus it means kind, friendly or well-disposed, also of the gods (cum dis benevolentibus, “with the gods' favour”), and as a noun a well-wisher or friend;[2][4] Terence has the noun too.[2][4] Cicero uses the comparative and superlative in his letters, as benevolentior tibi quam fui sum factus, “I have become better disposed to you than I was”.[7][8]

In early medieval formulae the noun appears in letter greetings from a well-wisher;[9][6] medieval writers also called God gracious with it, and used it of people ready to serve.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it often as adjective and noun.[2][6]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses the noun for a well-wisher.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses its comparative and superlative in letters.[7][6]
  • early 8th–10th century – Early medieval formulae use it in letter greetings.[9][6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Kind, friendly, benevolent, well-disposed.[3][2]
  2. Favourable, propitious (of the gods).[2]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Gracious (of God); willing.[9]

Noun

  1. A well-wisher, friend.[3][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  9. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften