Word of the Day

Thursday, March 30, 2006

benignant

\bih-NIG-nuhnt\ , adjective;

Kind; gracious.

Beneficial; favorable.

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Quotes:

After the captain and ladies had sat down, the autocratic steward rang a second bell, and with a majestic wave of the hand, and a calm, benignant smile, signified his pleasure that we should sit down.

-- Sir Henry Stanley, "Grand tours - Mind your manners at the captain's table", Independent, August 18, 2002

At the meeting it was strange to see, amidst the peaceful, benignant faces, this woe-begone old man, with his thick white hair and his deeply furrowed placid cheeks, looking wistfully from one to the other, and listening anxiously, hoping some day to hear the words which should bring peace to his soul.

-- Alexander L. Kielland, Skipper Worse

Human beings . . . are forever ascribing malignant or benignant motives even to inanimate forces such as the weather, volcanoes, and internal-combustion engines.

-- Stephen Budiansky, "The Truth About Dogs", The Atlantic, July 1999

Origin:

Benignant comes from the present participle of Late Latin benignare, from Latin benignus, "kind, friendly."