Where does “benignity” come from?
Benignity comes from Old French benignité, from Latin benignitas, derived from the adjective benignus, which combines Latin bonus meaning good with the root ǵenh₁- concerning birth or kind.
benignity (English): The state of being benign; A benign act
Definitions
- The state of being benign; A benign act
Ancestry of “benignity”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | benignite | Kindness, mildness, good will |
| 2 | Old French | benignité | — |
| 3 | Latin | benignitas | kindness, benevolence, friendliness, courtesy;... |
| 4 | Latin | benignus | kind, good, friendly, pleasant; beneficent,... |
| 5 | Latin | genus | birth, origin, lineage, descent; kind, type,... |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | genos | lineage, origin |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵénh₁os | race, lineage |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵenh₁- | to produce, to beget, to give birth |