benevolence
/bəˈnɛvələns/ noun
Forms benevolences
- noun (uncountable) Disposition to do good. “gesture of benevolence”
- noun (uncountable) Charitable kindness. “His acts of benevolence earned him great respect.”
- noun (countable) An altruistic gift or act.
- noun (UK, historical) A kind of forced loan or contribution levied by kings without legal authority, first so called under Edward IV in 1473.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
Circa 1400, original sense “good will, disposition to do good”, Old French benivolence from Latin benevolentia (also directly from Latin), literally “good will”, from bene (“well, good”) + volentia, form of volēns, form of volō (“to wish”), components cognate to English benefit and voluntary, more distantly will (via Proto-Indo-European).
Webster’s 1913
- noun The disposition to do good; good will; charitableness; love of mankind, accompanied with a desire to promote their happiness.
- noun An act of kindness; good done; charity given.
Etymology [OF. benevolence, L. benevolentia. See Benevolent.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “benevolence”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details