bene meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

bene

noun

/biːn/

Etymology From Middle English bene, from Old English bēn (“prayer, request, petition, favour, compulsory service”), from Proto-Germanic *bōniz (“supplication”). Cognate with Danish bøn (“prayer”), Swedish bön (“prayer”), Icelandic bæn (“prayer”), Icelandic bón (“request”). Related to ban. See also boon, bee.

Dialectal A prayer, especially to God; a petition; a boon.

What is good for a bootless bene?1815, William Wordsworth, The Force of Prayer:

Related terms: beenship

bene

adj

Etymology UK C16. Probably from Latin bene or Italian bene.

UK, Obsolete Good.

Egad, you carry a bene blink aloft. Come to the ken alone—no! my blowen; did not I tell you I should bring a pater cove, to chop up the whiners for Dawson?1828, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Pelham: or The Adventures of a Gentleman, page 383:

Synonyms: good
Derived terms: bene bowse, bene cove, bene darkmans, bene feaker, bene feaker of gybes, bene lightmans, bene mort, beneship, beneshiply, cut bene

bene

noun

Etymology UK C16. Probably from Latin bene or Italian bene.

UK, Obsolete Tongue.

Stowe your bene!

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.