Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Benefit in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels benefit as noun. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913noun
Benefit

[OE. benefet, benfeet, bienfet, F. bienfait, fr. L. benefactum; bene well (adv. of bonus good) + factum, p. p. of facere to do. See Bounty, and Fact.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordbenefit
Part of speechnoun
Historical etymology[OE. benefet, benfeet, bienfet, F. bienfait, fr. L. benefactum; bene well (adv. of bonus good) + factum, p. p. of facere to do. See Bounty, and Fact.]
Selected historical definitionAn act of kindness; a favor conferred.
Signed record IDwebster1913-benefit-noun-511c767ab5bb
Source locatorCIDE.B, paragraph 4129; Gutenberg eBook 660
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 660Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "benefit" is labeled noun. Its etymology is recorded as: "[OE. benefet, benfeet, bienfet, F. bienfait, fr. L. benefactum; bene well (adv. of bonus good) + factum, p. p. of facere to do. See Bounty, and Fact.]" The selected historical definition says: "An act of kindness; a favor conferred."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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adverb

Back

[Shortened from aback.]

Webster 1913 exact recordadjective

Better

[OE. betere, bettre, and as adv. bet, AS. betera, adj., and bet, adv.; akin to Icel. betri, adj., betr, adv., Goth. batiza, adj., OHG. bezziro, adj., baz, adv., G. besser, adj. and adv., bass, adv., E. boot, and prob. to Skr. bhadra excellent. See Boot advantage, and cf. Best, Batful.]

Webster 1913 exact recordnoun

Break

[See Break, v. t., and cf. Brake (the instrument), Breach, Brack a crack.]

Webster 1913 exact recordnoun

Bank

[F. banque, It. banca, orig. bench, table, counter, of German origin, and akin to E. bench; cf. G. bank bench, OHG. banch. See Bench, and cf. Banco, Beach.]

Webster 1913 exact recordnoun

Bill

[OE. bile, bille, AS. bile beak of a bird, proboscis; cf. Ir. & Gael. bil, bile, mouth, lip, bird's bill. Cf. Bill a weapon.]

Webster 1913 exact record

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