beneficence
Americannoun
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the doing of good; active goodness or kindness; charity.
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a beneficent act or gift; benefaction.
noun
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the act of doing good; kindness
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a charitable act or gift
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of beneficence
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English; French bénéficence, from Latin beneficentia; see benefic, -ence
Explanation
If you show someone kindness or generosity, that's beneficence like when you shovel a neighbor's sidewalk or mow their lawn just to help out, no strings attached. Beneficence comes from the Latin word benefactum, meaning "good deed." That's exactly what beneficence is — helping someone just because you care, not because you want to be praised for being nice. Giving your time, skills, or even a donation of money or items shows beneficence. This word can also describe the character of a person who is helpful, caring, and compassionate.
Vocabulary lists containing beneficence
Take the Bad with the Good: Bene and Mal
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Vocabulary from "John L. O'Sullivan on 'Manifest Destiny' " from 1839
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Letters to a Young Poet
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"AI cannot be viewed merely as a technical system. We need to develop a socio-technical system in which ethics is upheld through human agency, ensuring that AI delivers beneficence rather than maleficence."
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
“We presume that beneficence, compassion, empathy, sympathy or kindness will be processed by this other culture in ways similar or identical to ours.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Thanks to a delicate balance of force, beneficence, and self-interest, the United States would enjoy both great national wealth and historically unprecedented global dominance.
From Salon ● Dec. 27, 2025
There’s no better place to start than with Zackey Rahimi, a recipient of the 5th Circuit’s highly selective beneficence.
From Slate ● Oct. 1, 2023
In their beneficence they allowed a certain amount of amateur smuggling to go on—the day trips to Canada, the fishing boats out for a midnight cruise.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
