godsend
[god-send]
- an unexpected thing or event that is particularly welcome and timely, as if sent by God.
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Origin of godsend
1805–15; earlier God's send, variant (by influence of send1) of God's sond or sand, Middle English Godes sand (sand Old English: message, service)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for godsend
Contemporary Examples
When Hamas emerged as an increasingly powerful threat at the turn of the century, “Mosab was a godsend,” remembers Bar-Zohar.
Today, Google Books and other searchable text databases have been a godsend.
These sticks are a great help, and the wooden crash-helmets—a comparatively recent invention—are a godsend.
Plus, the Russian government decided to film the trial with as many as five cameras, which proved a godsend for the filmmakers.
For those struggling Olympians, a substantial paycheck would be a godsend.
Gabby Douglas, Ryan Lochte: Why Families of America’s Olympics Athletes Are BrokeKevin Fallon
August 7, 2012
Historical Examples
Decidedly, Dick had been a godsend, and his absence would be a calamity.
VivietteWilliam J. Locke
The least of the weapons of the air-fleet would have been a godsend to Thorn and Sylva.
InvasionWilliam Fitzgerald Jenkins
To have had one ship, even the smallest, where they were would have been a godsend to the fleet.
InvasionWilliam Fitzgerald Jenkins
I cannot find words to express What a godsend your remedies have been to me.
Treatise on the Diseases of WomenLydia E. Pinkham
She's heels to her, and it's a godsend she'll be to us if things go ill.
The Wild GeeseStanley John Weyman
godsend
- a person or thing that comes unexpectedly but is particularly welcome
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Word Origin
C19: changed from C17 God's send, alteration of goddes sand God's message, from Old English sand; see send 1
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 godsend
n.
1814, "a shipwreck" (from the perspective of people living along the coast), from Middle English Godes sonde (c.1200) "God's messenger; what God sends, gift from God, happening caused by God," from god + Middle English sonde "that which is sent, message," from Old English sand, from sendan (see send (v.)). Sense of "happy chance" is from 1831.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper