Word
benevolence
Phoneticsbenev·o·lence
US/bəˈnɛvəɫəns/
UK/bənˈɛvələns/
Definitions
01kindness and goodwill
n. the quality of being kind and helpful toward others.
n. the quality of well-meaning; a natural disposition to do good for others.
“The old man was known throughout the village for his benevolence and generosity.”
“The professor's benevolence toward his struggling students was evident in the extra hours he spent providing individual guidance after lectures.”
Formal
02charity or giving
n. an act of kindness or a gift given to help people.
n. an act of kindness or a charitable gift; the practice of performing charitable actions.
“The new hospital was built thanks to the benevolence of a local family.”
“The foundation was established to ensure that the founder's benevolence would continue to support medical research for decades to come.”
Formal
Synonyms
03historical forced loan
n. a historical tax or loan that a king forced people to pay.
n. a forced loan or contribution levied by English kings without legal authority, particularly during the 15th century.
“King Edward IV raised money through a benevolence to fund his military campaigns.”
“Parliament eventually declared the practice of collecting a benevolence illegal, as it bypassed the traditional legislative control over taxation.”
British English · Archaic · Technical
Real-World Examples
“To be fair, in the era before and directly after the financial crash, there were plenty of dissenting voices about capitalist benevolence solving intractable problems like inequality.” “Benevolence beliefs can be understood as feeling that someone has goodwill toward you and cares about your well-being.” Etymology
Circa 1400, original sense “good will, disposition to do good”, Old French benivolence from Latin benevolentia (also directly from Latin), literally “good will”, from bene (“well, good”) + volentia, form of volēns, form of volō (“I wish”), components cognate to English benefit and voluntary, more distantly will (via Proto-Indo-European).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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englishreference.com/q/benevolence