Benign means having a gentle disposition, showing kindness, being favorable, or being a mild, harmless condition, stemming from the Latin root 'bene' meaning 'well'.
Benign describes a gentle or gracious disposition, showing kindness, or being favorable and wholesome. It can also refer to a mild, harmless condition, especially in a medical context, originating from the Latin word 'bene' meaning 'well'.
| Word | benign |
|---|---|
| Date | September 5, 2007 |
| Type | adjective |
| Syllables | bih-NYNE |
| Etymology | "Benediction," "benefactor," "benefit," "benevolent," and "benign" are just some of the English words that derive from the well-tempered Latin root "bene," which means "well." "Benign" came to English via Anglo-French from the Latin "benignus," which in turn paired "bene" with "gignere," meaning "to beget." "Gignere" has produced a few offspring of its own in English. Its descendants include "congenital," "genius," "germ," "indigenous," and "progenitor," among others. *Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. |
| Examples | Mr. Richardson was a benign man and an excellent teacher, and the children loved and trusted him instinctively. |
| Definition | 1 : of a gentle disposition : gracious 2 a : showing kindness and gentleness b : favorable, wholesome 3 a : of a mild type or character that does not threaten health or life; especially : not becoming cancerous b : having no significant effect : harmless |
Tags: wordoftheday::adjective
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