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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

benefit.

An advantage; help or aid from something.

7 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈbɛn.ɪ.fɪt/Received-Pronunciation/ˈbɛn.ɪˌfɪt/Canada, General-American/ˈbɛn.əˌfɪt/Canada, General-American/ˈben.ə.fɪt/Australia

  1. An advantage; help or aid from something.

    countable · uncountable
    She can't read, so the voice recording was made for her benefit.
    Exposure to cutting-edge technologies is one of the benefits of the job.

  2. A payment made in accordance with an insurance policy or a public assistance scheme.

    countable · uncountable

  3. An event, such as a theatrical performance, given to raise funds for some cause.

    countable · uncountable

  4. beneficence; liberality

    countable · obsolete · uncountable

  5. Intended audience (as for the benefit of).

    countable · uncountable
    The whole scene was staged for his benefit, and it completely fooled him.
    Since my wife is Canadian, whenever we have dinner with my family, they keep bringing up anything they've heard about Canada lately for her benefit.
Where this word comes from

From Late Middle English benefytt, benefett, alteration (due to Latin bene-) of benfet, bienfet, bienfait (“good or noble deed”), from Anglo-Norman benfet (“well-done”), Middle French bienfait, from Old French bienfet, bienfait (“foredeal, favour”), from past participle of bienfaire (“to do good, do well”), from bien (“well”) + faire (“to do”), modelled after Latin benefactum (“good deed”). More at benefactor.

verb/ˈbɛn.ɪ.fɪt/Received-Pronunciation/ˈbɛn.ɪˌfɪt/Canada, General-American/ˈbɛn.əˌfɪt/Canada, General-American/ˈben.ə.fɪt/Australia

  1. To be or to provide a benefit to.

    transitive

  2. To receive a benefit (from); to be a beneficiary.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

From Late Middle English benefytt, benefett, alteration (due to Latin bene-) of benfet, bienfet, bienfait (“good or noble deed”), from Anglo-Norman benfet (“well-done”), Middle French bienfait, from Old French bienfet, bienfait (“foredeal, favour”), from past participle of bienfaire (“to do good, do well”), from bien (“well”) + faire (“to do”), modelled after Latin benefactum (“good deed”). More at benefactor.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.