Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The state or quality of being kind, charitable, or beneficial.
- noun A charitable act or gift.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The practice of doing good; active goodness, kindness, or charity.
- noun A benefaction; a beneficent act or gift.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The practice of doing good; active goodness, kindness, or charity; bounty springing from purity and goodness.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An act of
philanthropy , a kind deed; an act whichbenefits someone (else.)
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun doing good; feeling beneficent
- noun the quality of being kind or helpful or generous
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word beneficence.
Examples
-
The term beneficence connotes acts of mercy, kindness, and charity, and is suggestive of altruism, love, humanity, and promoting the good of others.
The Principle of Beneficence in Applied Ethics Beauchamp, Tom 2008
-
Unless the real recipient of the foundation's beneficence is capitalism itself, which will now teach even poets a good lesson in the imperatives of market discipline?
Poetry 2010
-
The issue of religious oppression vs. beneficence is simply not one to be battled in the statistics, because the numbers clearly and unequivocally side with the caring, not the hateful.
-
Enjoin beneficence and forbid malevolence: so shalt thou be loved of
-
ONE of the first lessons we learned at Hull-House was that private beneficence is totally inadequate to deal with the vast numbers of the city's disinherited.
Twenty Years at Hull-House, With Autobiographical Notes 1910
-
"I am afraid," said the lady, "that this Madame Milin's beneficence is a good deal exaggerated; but come with me, and I will take care of you."
-
And may'st thou, stranger to ostentation, and superior to insolence, with true greatness of soul shine forth conspicuous only in beneficence!
Evelina: or, The History of a Young Lady's Entrance Into the World 1778
-
He loves me, reverend father, "and a transient glow passed o'er the sallow, cheek of the religieux; 'with all the energy of his grateful nature loves me, for what he terms the beneficence of charity, what I term the bare impulse of duty.
-
His heart is naturally beneficent, and his beneficence is the gift of God for the most excellent purposes, as
Pamela 2006
-
Not from Miss Ainley's own lips did Caroline hear of her good works; but she knew much of them nevertheless; her beneficence was the familiar topic of the poor in Briarfield.
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.