Adjacent Words

Benefit definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BEN'EFIT, n. [Primarily from L. beneficium, or benefactum.]
1. An act of kindness; a favor conferred.
Bless the Lord,O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Psalms 103.
2. Advantage; profit; a word of extensive use, and expressing whatever contributes to promote prosperity and personal happiness, or add value to property.
Men have no right to what is not for their benefit.
3. In law, benefit of clergy. [See Clergy.]
BEN'EFIT, v.t. To do good to; to advantage; to advance in health, or prosperity; applied either to persons or things; as, exercise benefits health; trade benefits a nation.
BEN'EFIT, v.i. To gain advantage; to make improvement; as, he has benefited by good advice; that is, he has been benefited.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: financial assistance in time of need
2: something that aids or promotes well-being; "for the benefit of all" [syn: benefit, welfare]
3: a performance to raise money for a charitable cause v
1: derive a benefit from; "She profited from his vast experience" [syn: profit, gain, benefit]
2: be beneficial for; "This will do you good" [syn: benefit, do good]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French benfet, from Latin bene factum, from neuter of bene factus, past participle of bene facere Date: 14th century 1. archaic an act of kindness ; benefaction 2. a. something that promotes well-being ; advantage b. useful aid ; help 3. a. financial help in time of sickness, old age, or unemployment b. a payment or service provided for under an annuity, pension plan, or insurance policy c. a service (as health insurance) or right (as to take vacation time) provided by an employer in addition to wages or salary 4. an entertainment or social event to raise funds for a person or cause II. verb (benefited; also -fitted; -fiting; also -fitting) Date: 15th century transitive verb to be useful or profitable to intransitive verb to receive benefit <has benefited from his experience> • benefiter noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a favourable or helpful factor or circumstance; advantage, profit. 2 (often in pl.) payment made under insurance or social security (sickness benefit). 3 a public performance or game of which the proceeds go to a particular player or company or charitable cause. --v. (benefited, benefiting; US benefitted, benefitting) 1 tr. do good to; bring advantage to. 2 intr. (often foll. by from, by) receive an advantage or gain. Phrases and idioms: benefit of clergy 1 hist. exemption of the English tonsured clergy and nuns from the jurisdiction of the ordinary civil courts. 2 ecclesiastical sanction or approval (marriage without benefit of clergy). the benefit of the doubt a concession that a person is innocent, correct, etc., although doubt exists. benefit society a society for mutual insurance against illness or the effects of old age. Etymology: ME f. AF benfet, OF bienfet, f. L benefactum f. bene facere do well

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Benefit Ben"e*fit, v. i. To gain advantage; to make improvement; to profit; as, he will benefit by the change.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Benefit Ben"e*fit, n. [OE. benefet, benfeet, bienfet, F. bienfait, fr. L. benefactum; bene well (adv. of bonus good) + factum, p. p. of facere to do. See Bounty, and Fact.] 1. An act of kindness; a favor conferred. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. --Ps. ciii. 2. 2. Whatever promotes prosperity and personal happiness, or adds value to property; advantage; profit. Men have no right to what is not for their benefit. --Burke. 3. A theatrical performance, a concert, or the like, the proceeds of which do not go to the lessee of the theater or to the company, but to some individual actor, or to some charitable use. 4. Beneficence; liberality. [Obs.] --Webster (1623). 5. pl. Natural advantages; endowments; accomplishments. [R.] ``The benefits of your own country.'' --Shak. Benefit of clergy. (Law) See under Clergy. Syn: Profit; service; use; avail. See Advantage.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Benefit Ben"e*fit, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Benefited; p. pr. & vb. n. Benefitting.] To be beneficial to; to do good to; to advantage; to advance in health or prosperity; to be useful to; to profit. I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. --Jer. xviii. 10.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(benefits, benefiting, or benefitting benefited, or benefitted) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. The benefit of something is the help that you get from it or the advantage that results from it. Each family farms individually and reaps the benefit of its labor... I'm a great believer in the benefits of this form of therapy... For maximum benefit, use your treatment every day. = advantage, profit N-VAR: oft N of n 2. If something is to your benefit or is of benefit to you, it helps you or improves your life. This could now work to Albania's benefit... I hope what I have written will be of benefit to someone else who may feel the same way. = advantage N-UNCOUNT: oft with poss, of N to n 3. If you benefit from something or if it benefits you, it helps you or improves your life. Both sides have benefited from the talks. ...a variety of government programs benefiting children. = profit VERB: V from n, V n, also V 4. If you have the benefit of some information, knowledge, or equipment, you are able to use it so that you can achieve something. Steve didn't have the benefit of a formal college education... = advantage N-UNCOUNT: N of n 5. Benefit is money that is given by the government to people who are poor, ill, or unemployed. ...the removal of benefit from school-leavers... N-VAR: oft on N 6. A benefit, or a benefit concert or dinner, is an event that is held in order to raise money for a particular charity or person. I am organising a benefit gig in Bristol to raise these funds. N-COUNT: oft N n 7. see also fringe benefit, unemployment benefit 8. If you give someone the benefit of the doubt, you treat them as if they are telling the truth or as if they have behaved properly, even though you are not sure that this is the case. At first I gave him the benefit of the doubt... PHRASE: usu PHR after v 9. If you say that someone is doing something for the benefit of a particular person, you mean that they are doing it for that person. You need people working for the benefit of the community... PHRASE: PHR after v

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ben'-e-fit (gemul = "a deed," 2Ch 32:25); yaTabh = (causat.) "to make well," "to do good" (Jer 18:10). The plural of gemul, is found is found in Ps 103:2. Ps 68:19 (the King James Version) should be translated "Blessed be the Lord. Day by day he sustains us; God is our salvation." charis = "gift"; "grace" (2Co 1:15, "a second benefit": that is, two visits in the same journey). euergesia = "good deed done" (1Ti 6:2: "because they that partake of the benefit (of their service) are believing and beloved"); agathos = "good" (Philemon 1:14, the King James Version; the Revised Version (British and American) "goodness").

Frank E. Hirsch

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Favor, service, act of kindness, good turn, kind office. 2. Advantage, profit, avail, gain, good, utility, behalf, behoof, account, interest. II. v. a. 1. Befriend, help, serve, do good to, be useful to, advance the interest of, confer a favor on, do a good turn or kind office to. 2. Profit, advantage, avail, be of advantage to.

Moby Thesaurus

abet, absolute interest, account, act of grace, act of kindness, advance, advantage, aid, allowances, ameliorate, answer, assist, assistance, avail, bail out, be handy, be of use, be right, bear a hand, befit, befitting, befriend, behalf, behoof, benediction, benefaction, benefits, benevolence, benignity, benison, bestead, better, bill, blessing, boon, break no bones, build, claim, comfort, common, confer a benefit, contingent interest, contribute to, convenience, courtesy, debut, do, do a favor, do a kindness, do good, do no harm, do the trick, doctor, ease, easement, entertainment, equitable interest, equity, estate, exhibit, exhibition, farewell performance, favor, fill the bill, fit, flesh show, forward, further, gain, give a boost, give a hand, give a lift, give good returns, give help, godsend, good, good deed, good offices, good turn, grace, help, holding, improve, interest, kind deed, kind offices, kindly act, kindness, labor of love, lend a hand, lend one aid, limitation, manna, mercy, ministration, ministry, mitzvah, not come amiss, obligation, office, offices, part, pay, pay off, percentage, performance, perks, perquisites, point, premiere, presentation, presentment, production, proffer aid, profit, promote, prosperity, protect, protection, rally, reclaim, redeem, relief, relieve, remedy, render a service, render assistance, rescue, restore, resuscitate, revive, right, right of entry, sake, save, serve, serve the purpose, service, set up, settlement, show, stage presentation, stake, strict settlement, succor, suffice, suit the occasion, support, swan song, take in tow, theatrical performance, therapy, title, trust, tryout, turn, use, value, vested interest, welfare, well-being, work, work for, world of good, worth, yield a profit