benefice

[ben-uh-fis]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR benefice ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a position or post granted to an ecclesiastic that guarantees a fixed amount of property or income.

the revenue itself.

the equivalent of a fief in the early Middle Ages.

verb (used with object), ben·e·ficed, ben·e·fic·ing.

to invest with a benefice or ecclesiastical living.

Origin of benefice

1300–50; Middle English < Middle French < Latin beneficium service, kindness (benefic(us) benefic + -ium -ium)

Related formsnon·ben·e·ficed, adjectiveun·ben·e·ficed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for benefice

district, bishopric, jurisdiction, see, benefice, prelacy, episcopate, parsonage, vicarage, manse, presbytery

Examples from the Web for benefice

Historical Examples of benefice

And he has often commissioned his Almoner to find a benefice for me.
Erasmus and the Age of Reformation
Johan Huizinga
They could not have told on which benefice to reside, for they held many.
The Rise of the Hugenots, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Henry Martyn Baird
His prayers for a benefice are sometimes grave and sometimes comic, but never-failing.
Royal Edinburgh
Margaret Oliphant
Mr. Griffiths was speedily released and restored to his benefice.
Sir Christopher Wren
Lucy Phillimore
If he is a clergyman, he shall be deposed from his office and deprived of every benefice.
A Source Book for Mediaeval History
Oliver J. Thatcher

British Dictionary definitions for benefice

benefice

noun

Christianity an endowed Church office yielding an income to its holder; a Church living

the property or revenue attached to such an office

(in feudal society) a tenement (piece of land) held by a vassal from a landowner on easy terms or free, esp in return for military supportSee also vassalage

verb

(tr) to provide with a benefice

Word Origin for benefice

C14: from Old French, from Latin beneficium benefit, from beneficus, from bene well + facere to do

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for benefice

c.1300, "a church living," from Old French benefice (13c.) and directly from Latin beneficium "a favor, service, generosity, kindness, benefit," from beneficus "generous, kind, benevolent, obliging," from bene- (see bene-) + -ficus, from stem of -ficere, unstressed form of facere "to do, to make" (see factitious).