English
benefice
Benefice comes from Latin beneficium ‘benefit’, from bene ‘well, good’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *dwenos.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dwenos‘good’reconstructed
- Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCEduenos
- Archaic Latin, derivedc. 700–75 BCE*duenēdreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbene‘well, good’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEbeneficus‘beneficent’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEbeneficium‘benefit’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400benefice
- Englishearliest quotation 1624same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dwenos‘good’reconstructed
- Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCEduenos
- Archaic Latin, derivedc. 700–75 BCE*duenēdreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbene‘well, good’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEbeneficus‘beneficent’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEbeneficium‘benefit’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400benefice
- Englishearliest quotation 1624same form
Earliest quotation: 1624, Democritus Junior pseudonym; Robert Burt, The Anatomy of Melancholy: […]: “If after long expectation, much expense, travel, earnest suit…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂- ‘to fit’
down, town, tool, dynamic, teen, dynasty, tow, dun, dynamo, dynastic, tine, taw, beaucoup, beauteous, 94 more
through Proto-Italic *dwenos ‘good’
beautiful, beauty, boo, rebellion, beau, bona, rebellious, bello, rebelling, bauble, 39 more
through Archaic Latin duenos
bonus, optimal, rebel, bonnie, optimism, boon, revel, bonny, bonbon, bellicose, 39 more
through Latin bene ‘well, good’
Today it means
noun Land granted to a priest in a church that has a source of income attached to it.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Italic *dwenos / benefice