Benign

How to spell benign

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce benign

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does benign mean?

1. adjectiveGentle, kindly, or causing no harm.
2. adjectiveOf a tumour or condition: mild and not cancerous or dangerous.

Benign in a sentence

• The new manager had a benign manner that put nervous staff at ease.

• The biopsy confirmed that the lump was benign and required no further treatment.

• The policy looked benign on paper but slowed every project down.

• Doctors were relieved to find the growth was benign rather than malignant.

Where does benign come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin benignus, meaning 'kind' or 'good-natured', which was built from bene 'well' joined to a root related to gignere 'to be born' or 'to beget'. The literal sense was therefore something like 'well-born', and from a noble birth the idea slid naturally toward gentleness, generosity, and a kindly disposition. English took it in during the 1300s through Old French benigne, at first describing gracious and merciful people. By the 1700s doctors had borrowed it for tumours and conditions that are mild and not dangerous, the opposite of 'malignant', which carries the matching male- 'badly' element. The silent g, kept from the Latin spelling, is the usual trap: it is heard in relatives like 'benignant' but vanishes in benign itself.

How the word is built

• bene- (well)
• -gn- (from Latin gignere, to be born) forming benignus: 'well-born', hence kindly