English
bene
Bene comes from Middle English bene ‘request, entreaty’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *bōniz ‘supplication’.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bōniz‘supplication’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*bōnireconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150bēn‘prayer, request, petition, favour, compulsory service’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bene‘request, entreaty’
- Englishearliest quotation 1815bene
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bōniz‘supplication’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*bōnireconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150bēn‘prayer, request, petition, favour, compulsory service’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bene‘request, entreaty’
- Englishearliest quotation 1815bene
Earliest quotation: 1815, William Wordsworth: “What is good for a bootless bene?”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- ‘to shine, glow light’
focus, phone, professor, famous, fuel, phase, favor, favourite, ban, fantasy, fate, fancy, fame, photographer, emphasis, profession, fatal, fairy, fabulous, abandon, infant, phenomenon, confession, confess, phantom, symphony, beacon, eff, fab, beck, fay, prophetic, epiphany, fable, foyer, banish, buoy, profess, fantasia, banal, 126 more
through Proto-Germanic *bōniz ‘supplication’
through Old English bēn ‘prayer, request, petition, favour, compulsory…’
through Middle English bene ‘request, entreaty’
Today it means
noun A prayer, especially to God; a petition; a boon.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *bōniz / bene