| 1 | Middle English | benignely | — |
| 2 | Middle English | benigne | — |
| 3 | Old French | benigne | — |
| 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 |