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Webster 1913 Edition
Benefice
Ben′e-fice
,Noun.
[F.
bénéfice
, L. beneficium
, a kindness , in LL. a grant of an estate, fr. L. beneficus
beneficent; bene
well + facere
to do. See Benefit
.] 1.
A favor or benefit.
[Obs.]
Baxter.
2.
(Feudal Law)
An estate in lands; a fief.
☞ Such an estate was granted at first for life only, and held on the mere good pleasure of the donor; but afterward, becoming hereditary, it received the appellation of fief, and the term benefice became appropriated to church livings.
3.
An ecclesiastical living and church preferment, as in the Church of England; a church endowed with a revenue for the maintenance of divine service. See
Advowson
. ☞ All church preferments are called benefices, except bishoprics, which are called dignities. But, ordinarily, the term dignity is applied to bishoprics, deaneries, archdeaconries, and prebendaryships; benefice to parsonages, vicarages, and donatives.
Ben′e-fice
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Beneficed
.] To endow with a benefice.
[Commonly in the past participle.]
Webster 1828 Edition
Benefice
BEN'EFICE
,Noun.
1.
Literally, a benefit, advantage or kindness. But in present usage, en ecclesiastical living; a church endowed with a revenue, for the maintenance of divine service,or the revenue itself. All church preferments are called benefices, except bishoprics, which are called dignities. But ordinarily, the term dignity is applied to bishoprics, deaneries, arch-deaconries, and prebendaries; and benefice, to parsonages, vicarages, and donatives.2.
In the middle ages, benefice was used for a fee, or an estate in lands, granted at first for like only, and held ex mero beneficio of the donor. The estate afterwards becoming hereditary, took the appellation of feud, and benefice became appropriated to church livings.Definition 2024
Benefice
benefice
benefice
English
Noun
benefice (plural benefices)
- Land granted to a priest in a church that has a source of income attached to it.
- 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, NYRB, 2001, vol.1, p.323:
- If after long expectation, much expense, travel, earnest suit of ourselves and friends, we obtain a small benefice at last, our misery begins afresh […].
- 2007, Edwin Mullins, The Popes of Avignon, Blue Bridge 2008, p.94:
- There were as many as one hundred thousand benefices offered during the period of his papacy, according to one chronicler and eyewitness.
- 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, NYRB, 2001, vol.1, p.323:
- (obsolete) A favour or benefit.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Baxter to this entry?)
- (feudal law) An estate in lands; a fief.
Verb
benefice (third-person singular simple present benefices, present participle beneficing, simple past and past participle beneficed)
Latin
Adjective
benefice
- vocative masculine singular of beneficus
References
- benefice in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- Félix Gaffiot (1934), “benefice”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.