Benevolent \Be*nev"o*lent\, a. [L. benevolens, -entis; bene well
(adv. of bonus good) + volens, p. pr. of volo I will, I wish.
See Bounty, and Voluntary.]
Having a disposition to do good; possessing or manifesting
love to mankind, and a desire to promote their prosperity and
happiness; disposed to give to good objects; kind;
charitable. -- Be*nev"o*lent*ly, adv.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: Benevolent, Beneficent.
Usage: Etymologically considered, benevolent implies wishing
well to others, and beneficent, doing well. But by
degrees the word benevolent has been widened to
include not only feelings, but actions; thus, we speak
of benevolent operations, benevolent labors for the
public good, benevolent societies. In like manner,
beneficent is now often applied to feelings; thus, we
speak of the beneficent intentions of a donor. This
extension of the terms enables us to mark nicer shades
of meaning. Thus, the phrase "benevolent labors" turns
attention to the source of these labors, viz.,
benevolent feeling; while beneficent would simply mark
them as productive of good. So, "beneficent
intentions" point to the feelings of the donor as bent
upon some specific good act; while "benevolent
intentions" would only denote a general wish and
design to do good.
[1913 Webster]
Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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108 Moby Thesaurus words for "benevolent":
accommodating, advantageous, affable, agreeable, almsgiving,
altruistic, amiable, amicable, auspicious, beneficent, beneficial,
benign, benignant, big, bighearted, bon, bonny, braw, bueno,
capital, caring, charitable, chivalrous, cogent, commendable,
compassionate, complaisant, compliant, conciliatory, considerate,
cooperative, decent, eleemosynary, elegant, estimable, excellent,
expedient, fair, famous, favorable, fine, forbearing, forgiving,
freehearted, friendly, generous, good, goodly, gracious, grand,
greathearted, healthy, helpful, humane, humanitarian, indulgent,
kind, kindly, kindly-disposed, largehearted, laudable, liberal,
lofty, long-suffering, longanimous, magnanimous, neighborly, nice,
noble, obliging, open-handed, openhanded, overindulgent,
overpermissive, patient, permissive, philanthropic, placable,
pleasant, profitable, propitious, public-spirited, regal, royal,
salutary, skillful, sound, sparing, splendid, sympathetic,
tenderhearted, thoughtful, tolerant, unresentful, unrevengeful,
useful, valid, very good, virtuous, warm-hearted, welfare,
welfare statist, welfarist, well-affected, well-disposed,
well-intentioned, well-meaning, well-meant
Source: Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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Benevolent \Be*nev"o*lent\, a. [L. benevolens, -entis; bene well
(adv. of bonus good) + volens, p. pr. of volo I will, I wish.
See Bounty, and Voluntary.]
Having a disposition to do good; possessing or manifesting
love to mankind, and a desire to promote their prosperity and
happiness; disposed to give to good objects; kind;
charitable. -- Be*nev"o*lent*ly, adv.
Syn: Benevolent, Beneficent.
Usage: Etymologically considered, benevolent implies wishing
well to others, and beneficent, doing well. But by
degrees the word benevolent has been widened to
include not only feelings, but actions; thus, we speak
of benevolent operations, benevolent labors for the
public good, benevolent societies. In like manner,
beneficent is now often applied to feelings; thus, we
speak of the beneficent intentions of a donor. This
extension of the terms enables us to mark nicer shades
of meaning. Thus, the phrase ``benevolent labors''
turns attention to the source of these labors, viz.,
benevolent feeling; while beneficent would simply mark
them as productive of good. So, ``beneficent
intentions'' point to the feelings of the donor as
bent upon some specific good act; while ``benevolent
intentions'' would only denote a general wish and
design to do good.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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