benevolence

[buh-nev-uh-luhns]

See more synonyms for benevolence on Thesaurus.com

noun

desire to do good to others; goodwill; charitableness: to be filled with benevolence toward one's fellow creatures.
an act of kindness; a charitable gift.
English History. a forced contribution to the sovereign.

Origin of benevolence

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Latin word benevolentia. See benevolent, -ence

Related formsnon·be·nev·o·lence, nounsu·per·be·nev·o·lence, nounun·be·nev·o·lence, noun

Antonyms for benevolence

1. malevolence.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for benevolence

compassion, generosity, altruism, kindness, gift, friendliness, amity, sympathy, goodness, feeling, friendship, humanity, comity

Examples from the Web for benevolence

Contemporary Examples of benevolence

And your current brand of persuasion entails tempering pushiness with aplomb, brute force with benevolence.
Horoscopes for June 12-18, 2011
Starsky + Cox
June 12, 2011

Historical Examples of benevolence

With what warmth of benevolence—how should he be otherwise than warm in any of his attributes?
Fire Worship (From "Mosses From An Old Manse")
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Even in my benevolence I was as impatient and unreasonable as a child.
Tales And Novels, Volume 4 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
His desire to please evidently arose not from vanity but benevolence.
Tales And Novels, Volume 4 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
The parson had bent forward, and was eyeing her curiously, yet with benevolence.
Tiverton Tales
Alice Brown
He is as thorough a worker in the cause of religion, morality and benevolence as in trade.
Cleveland Past and Present
Maurice Joblin

British Dictionary definitions for benevolence

benevolence

noun

inclination or tendency to help or do good to others; charity
an act of kindness
(in the Middle Ages) a forced loan or contribution exacted by English kings from their nobility and subjects

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 benevolence

c.1400, "disposition to do good," from Old French benivolence and directly from Latin benevolentia "good feeling, good will, kindness," from bene "well" (see bene-) + volantem (nominative volens) present participle of velle "to wish" (see will (v.)). In English history, this was the name given to forced extra-legal loans or contributions to the crown, first so called 1473 by Edward IV, who cynically "asked" it as a token of good will toward his rule.