Emily Dickinson Lexicon

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

1. To involve in darkness; to shroud with the shades of night. The clouds benight 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.

BENT, n.

1. The state of being curving, crooked, or inclined from a straight line; flexure; curvity.
2. Declivity; as, the bent of a hill. [Unusual.] – Dryden.
3. Inclination; disposition; a leaning or bias of mind; propensity; as, the bent of the mind or will; the bent of a people toward an object. This may be natural or artificial, occasional or habitual, with indefinite degrees of strength.
4. Flexion; tendency; particular direction; as, the bents and turns of a subject. – Locke.
5. Application of the mind; a bending of the mind in study or investigation. – Locke.

BENT, pp. [of Bend.]

Incurvated; inflected; inclined; prone to or having a fixed propensity; determined. Bent on, having a fixed inclination; resolved or determined on.

BENT'ING-TIME, n.

The time when pigeons feed on bents, before peas are ripe. – Johnson. Dryden.

BE-NUM', or BE-NUMB', v.t. [Sax. beniman, benyman, pp. benumen, to seize, of be and niman, Sax. and Goth., to take or seize. This root is retained in withernam. It is to be observed that b after m in numb, thumb, dumb, &c., is an arbitrary addition of modern writers.]

1. To make torpid; to deprive of sensation; as, a hand or foot benumbed by cold.
2. To stupefy; to render inactive; as, to benumb the senses. – Dryden.

BE-NUMB'MENT, n.

Act of benumbing. – Kirby.

BE-NUM'MED, pp.

Rendered torpid; deprived of sensation; stupefied.

BE-NUM'MED-NESS, n.

Destitution of feeling. – Smith.

BE-NUM'MING, ppr.

Depriving of sensation; stupefying.

BEN'ZO-ATE, n. [See Benzoin.]

A salt formed by the union of the benzoic acid with any salifiable base.

BEN-ZO'IC, a.

Pertaining to benzoin. Benzoic acid, or flowers of benzoin, is a peculiar vegetable acid, obtained from benzoin and other balsams, by sublimation or decoction. It is a fine light white matter in small needles; its taste pungent and bitterish, and its odor slightly aromatic. – Thomson.

BEN-ZOIN', or BEN'JA-MIN, n.

Gum benjamin; a concrete resinous juice flowing from the Styrax Benzoin, a tree of Sumatra, &c. It is properly a balsam, as it yields benzoic acid. It flows from incisions made in the stem or branches. It is solid and brittle, sometimes in yellowish white tears; joined together by a brown substance, and sometimes of a uniform brown substance like resin. It has little taste, but its smell, especially when rubbed or heated, is extremely fragrant and agreeable. It is chiefly used in cosmetics and perfumes. – Encyc. Thomson.

BEN'ZULE, n. [Benzoin and υλη, principle.]

A compound of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, regarded as the base of benzoic acid.

BE-PAINT', v.t. [be and paint.]

To paint; to cover with paint. [Little used.] – Shak.

BE-PALE', v.t. [be and pale.]

To make pale. [Not in use.] – Carew.