Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BEN'E-FIT-ED, pp.

Profited; having received benefit.

BEN'E-FIT-ING, ppr.

Doing good to; profiting; gaining advantage.

BE-NEME', v.t. [Sax. be and naman.]

1. To name. [Not in use.] Spenser.
2. To promise; to give. [Not in use.] Spenser.

BE-NEMP'NE, v.t.

To name. [Not in use.] Spenser.

BENE-PLACITO, adv.

In music, at pleasure.

BEN-E-PLAC'I-TURE, n. [L. beneplacitum, bene, well, and placitum, from placeo, to please.]

Will; choice. [Not in use.] Glanville.

BE-NET', v.t. [be and net.]

To catch in a net; to insnare. [Not used.] Shak.

BE-NEV'O-LENCE, n. [L. benevolentia, of bene, well, and volo, to will or wish. See Will.]

1. The disposition to do good; good will; kindness; charitableness; the love of mankind, accompanied with a desire to promote their happiness. The benevolence of God is one of his moral attributes; that attribute which delights in the happiness of intelligent beings. “God is love.” 1 John iv.
2. An act of kindness; good done; charity given.
3. A species of contribution or tax illegally exacted by arbitrary kings of England. Blackstone.

BE-NEV'O-LENT, a. [L. benevolens, of bene and volo.]

Having a disposition to do good; possessing love to mankind, and a desire to promote their prosperity and happiness; kind.

BE-NEV'O-LENT-LY, adv.

In a kind manner; with good will.

BE-NEV'O-LOUS, a.

Kind, benevolent. [Not used.]

BEN-GAL', n.

A thin stuff made of silk and hair, for women's apparel, so called from Bengal in the East Indies. Bailey. Johnson.

BEN-GA-LEE', n.

The language or dialect spoken in Bengal.

BEN-GA-LESE', n. [sing. and plur.]

A native or the natives of Bengal. As. Res. vii. 171.

BE-NIGHT', v.t. [be and night.]

1. To involve in darkness; to shroud with the shades of night. The clouds benignt the sky. Garth.
2. To overtake with night; as, a benighted traveler.
3. To involve in moral darkness, or ignorance; to debar from intellectual light; as, benighted nations, or heathen.

BE-NIGHT'ED, pp.

Involved in darkness, physical or moral; overtaken by the night.

BE-NIGN', a. [beni'ne; L. benignus, from the same root as bonus, bene, ancient L. benus, Eng. boon.]

1. Kind; of a kind disposition; gracious; favorable. Our Creator, bounteous and benign. Milton.
2. Generous; liberal ; as, a benign benefactor.
3. Favorable; having a salutary influence; as, the benign aspect of the seasons. The benign light of revelation. Washington.
4. Wholesome; not pernicious; as, a benign medicine. Arbuthnot.
5. Favorable; not malignant; as, a benign disease.

BE-NIG'NANT, a.

Kind; gracious; favorable.

BE-NIG'NI-TY, n.

1. Goodness of disposition or heart; kindness of nature; graciousness.
2. Actual goodness; beneficence.
3. Salubrity; wholesome quality; or that which tends to promote health. Wiseman.

BE-NIGN'LY, adv. [beni'nely.]

Favorably; kindly; graciously.

BEN'I-SON, n. [s as z. Fr. benir, to bless; benissant, blessing; from the root of bene, bonus, boon. See Boon.]

Blessing; benediction. [Nearly antiquated.] Johnson.

BEN'JA-MIN, n.

1. A tree, the Laurus benzoin, a native of America, called also spicebush. It grows to the height of 15 or 20 feet, with a very branchy head.
2. A gum or resin, or rather a balsam. [See Benzoin.] Encyc.

BEN'NET, n.

The herb bennet, or avens, known in botany by the generic term Geum. Fam. of Plants.

BEN'NET-FISH, n.

A fish of two feet in length, caught in the African seas, having scales of a deep purple, streaked with gold. Dict. of Nat. Hist.

BENT, or BENT'-GRASS, n.

A kind of grass, called in botany, Agrostis of several species. Encyc.