Benefit

How to spell benefit

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce benefit

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does benefit mean?

1. nounAn advantage, gain, or helpful effect that something provides.
2. verbTo receive an advantage or to be helped by something.

Benefit in a sentence

• noun

  The main benefit of the new contract is lower monthly costs.

• verb

  Small businesses will benefit from the tax reduction.

• noun

  Regular exercise offers a clear health benefit.

• verb

  Patients benefit greatly from earlier diagnosis.

Where does benefit come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Benefit traces back to the Latin benefactum, meaning 'a good deed', formed from the adverb bene 'well' and the verb facere 'to do' or 'to make'. It reached English in the late 1300s through Anglo-Norman and Old French, where the form bienfait described a kindness or favour granted to someone. The early English sense leaned on this idea of a good deed or an act of generosity, and only later broadened to mean any advantage, gain, or helpful effect. The same bene 'well' root sits inside familiar relatives such as 'benefactor', 'beneficial', and 'benevolent', while the facere half survives in words like 'factory' and 'manufacture'. The spelling trap is the unstressed middle vowel: it is written 'bene' even though the second syllable is barely sounded, so writers are tempted to drop or alter the 'e'.

How the word is built

• bene- (well, good)
• -fit (from Latin facere: to do, to make)