Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “beneficence” come from?

Beneficence comes from Middle English beneficence, from Latin beneficentia, derived from Latin benefacio, combining Latin bene and Latin bonus, which traces to Latin duonus, Proto-Italic dwenos, and Proto-Indo-European dew-.

beneficence (English): An act of philanthropy, a kind deed; an act which...

Definitions

  1. An act of philanthropy, a kind deed; an act which...

Ancestry of “beneficence”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishbeneficence—
2Latinbeneficentiabeneficence, kindness
3Latinbenefaciō—
4Latinfaciō—
5Latin-toriumnominative neuter singular of -tōrius; accusative...
6Latin-tōrius—
7Latin-tor-er
8Proto-Italic-tōr—
9Proto-Indo-European-tōrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...
10Proto-Indo-European-tor-s—
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tor-s →