Dictionary

benedict en · NOUN · etymology 1

Etymology

From Benedicke (normalized to the usual spelling, Benedict), a character in William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing (1598).

Meanings

1. (rare) 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 benedicts 1904, Jack London, chapter 30, in The Sea-Wolf (Macmillan’s Standard Library), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC:

Forms

wikipedia: William Shakespeare · wikipedia: Much Ado About Nothing

benedict en · ADJ · etymology 2

Etymology

From Latin benedictus, past participle of benedicere (“to bless”). See benison. Doublet of bennet.

Meanings

1. (obsolete) 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:

Forms

Deriveds

benedictive

benedict en · VERB · etymology 2

Etymology

From Latin benedictus, past participle of benedicere (“to bless”). See benison. Doublet of bennet.

Meanings

1. (rare) to bless.
   • 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:
   • At the beginning of the nineties, especially during the Peterle government, it seemed as if ecclesiastic figues would start appearing and benedicting public events. After certain protests were made, especially after the opening of a motorway was benedicted, this practice seems to be fading away. 1999, Facta Universitatis: Series philosophy and sociology:
   • 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:
   • 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 wid. 1905, Ruth McEnery Stuart, The Second Wooing of Salina Sue, and Other Stories, page 181:
   • Fancy Penney was then called upon to benedict them all home in blessing and safety. 2013, Rick Cox, Orphan Moon, page 105:
   • George Washington benedicted the Hebrew congregation in Savannah using the example of Israel as a paradigm for America: May the same wonder-working Deity, who long since delivered the Hebrews from their Egyptian oppressors, planted them in a promised land, whose providential agency has lately been conspicuous in establishing these United States as an independent nation still continue to water them with the dews of Heaven and to make the inhabitants of every denomination participate in the temporal and spiritual blessings of that people, whose God is Jehovah. 1994, Charles Brock, Mosaics of the American Dream, page 41:
   • 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:
2. (of eggs) 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:
   • I can scramble them, poach them, Benedict them, and make them into omelets. 2003, Beth Goldner, Wake: Stories, page 107:

Forms

Antonyms

maledict