benedict
/ˈbɛnədɪkt/
benedict noun: a newly married man, especially one who was previously a confirmed bachelor.
Noun
benedict (plural benedicts)
- A newly married man, especially one who was previously a confirmed bachelor.
- The benedict, drearily superfluous to the festivities, had hardly been noticed by her as he lurked about the walls and sought what entertainment was possible to one under the social disabilities of matrimony.1891, Mary Noailles Murfree, In the "Stranger Poeple's" Country, Nebraska, published 2005, page 50
- A quarter of a mile inland we came upon the holluschickie -- sleek young bulls, living out the loneliness of their bachelorhood and gathering strength against the day when they would fight their way into the ranks of the benedicts1904, Jack London, chapter 30, in The Sea-Wolf (Macmillan’s Standard Library), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC
Adjective
benedict (comparative more benedict, superlative most benedict)
- Having mild and salubrious qualities.
- And it is not a ſmall thing won in Phyſick, if you can make rhubarb, and other medicines that are benedict, as ſtrong purgers, as thoſe that are not without ſome malignity.1622, Francis Bacon, “Natural History”, in The Works of Francis Bacon, Baron of Verulam, Viscount St. Alban, volume 3, published 1740, page 5
Verb
benedict (third-person singular simple present benedicts, present participle benedicting, simple past and past participle benedicted)
- to bless.
- Now, dis explanation o' de rose dance ain't on my own account, for I des' now tol' yer dat, so far as I'm concerned, it wouldn't make no diff'ence to me if I'd 'a' been requi'ed to go to hell for her — I'd 'a' went — in joy — for de fulfilment o' de love which Gord A'mighty done benedicted my heart...1905, Ruth McEnery Stuart, The Second Wooing of Salina Sue, and Other Stories, page 181
- Rukmini, the goddess of fortune, was already personally obliged to stay as a guest in the brahmana's house in order to benedict him with great fortune.1979, Satsvarūpa Dāsa Gosvāmī, A handbook for Kṛṣṇa consciousness, page 168
- Antonyms:
- maledict
- To poach and serve on an English muffin with ham or bacon and hollandaise sauce.
- His pancakes were never just ordinary pancakes: they were airy creations mushroomed in sauce, or they were crepes suzette. Eggs were shirred, mornayed or benedicted.1965, The Reader's Digest - Volume 86, page 246
- I love thee raw, baked, soft-boiled, hard-boiled, poached, scrambled, sauteed, fried, shirred, deviled, creamed, curried, coddled, glazed, pickled, Benedicted, or Scotched . . . in omelets and souffle/s and quiches of infinite variety ...in mayonnaise and hollandaise and be/arnaise. . .1985, Hans Fisher, Eugene Boe, The Rutgers Guide to Lowering Your Cholesterol, page 59
Proper noun capitalized: Benedict
Benedict (countable and uncountable, plural Benedicts)
- A male given name from Latin, particularly of the sixth-century founder of the Benedictine order, and of several popes.
- A surname originating as a patronymic.
- A minor city in Wilson County, Kansas, United States, named after S. S. Benedict.
- A census-designated place in Maryland, United States.
- A village in Nebraska, United States.
- A city and village in North Dakota, United States.
benedict meaning in Tamil
benedict in Tamil
- போற்றுதற்குரிய, கருணைவாய்ந்த
Examples of benedict in a sentence
- As a result of this act he was benedicted with more honours by the Mughal court.1983, Kalyan Kumar Ganguli, Cultural History of Rajasthan, page 54:
- At the beginning of the nineties, especially during the Peterle government, it seemed as if ecclesiastic figues would start appearing and benedicting public events.1999, Facta Universitatis: Series philosophy and sociology:
- The spiritually mature person interacts with others for the purpose of benedicting them spiritually, not for his own social or psychological needs.2001, Leslie Reynolds, Spiritual Maturity: The Whole Elephant, page 150:
- Fancy Penney was then called upon to benedict them all home in blessing and safety.2013, Rick Cox, Orphan Moon, page 105:
Antonyms of benedict
Forms of benedict
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | benedicts |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more benedict |
| superlative | most benedict |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | benedicts |
| present participle | benedicting |
| past participle | benedicted |
| past | benedicted |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Benedicts |
| alternative form (obsolete) | Bene't |
Origin of benedict
From Benedicke (normalized to the usual spelling, Benedict), a character in William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing (1598).
From Latin benedictus, past participle of benedicere (“to bless”). See benison. Doublet of bennet.
From Saint Benedict, founder of the Benedictine Order, from Late Latin Benedictus, from benedictus (“blessed, well spoken of”), from Latin benedīcō (“to bless, to speak well of”). Doublet of Bennett, Benoit, and Benito.
Words formed from benedict
Phrases with benedict
Questions about benedict
- What does benedict mean?
- Benedict means a newly married man, especially one who was previously a confirmed bachelor.
- What is benedict in Tamil?
- Benedict in Tamil is போற்றுதற்குரிய, கருணைவாய்ந்த. See Benedict meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use benedict in a sentence?
- As a result of this act he was benedicted with more honours by the Mughal court.
- What part of speech is benedict?
- Benedict can be a noun, an adjective, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce benedict?
- Benedict is pronounced /ˈbɛnədɪkt/.
- What is the plural of benedict?
- The plural of benedict is benedicts.
Words near benedict in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: benedict (page history and authors); Benedict (page history and authors); benedict (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Benedict.wav.
Cite this entry: “benedict.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/benedict. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.