Dictionary

godsend en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈɡɑdˌsɛnd/ (General-American)
• (General-American) audio
• /ˈɡɒdsɛnd/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

A variant of God’s send, from God + -’s + send (“(obsolete) act of sending”), in the sense of someone or something sent by God.

Meanings

1. An instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune; a windfall.
   • "You do, indeed, seem to take it to heart!" exclaimed the actress, an expression of jealous anger crossing her features; "why, it is quite a God-send for you! many a heart is caught in the rebound.[…]" 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “A Discovery”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 207:
   • To the onlooker, and particularly to those whose memories go back to pre-grouping days, the modern cavalcade of "V2s" and "B1s" is apt to become a little monotonous; but to any running man the general utility characteristics of these two classes are a perfect godsend at times of exceptional pressure, when it is often a case of "first in—first out" with locomotive allocations at sheds. 1949 November–December, O[swald] S[tevens] Nock, “Twenty-Four Hours at York—2”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 357–358:
   • By this time my wife was in Barcelona and used to send me tea, chocolate, and even cigars when such things were procurable; but even in Barcelona everything was running short, especially tobacco. The tea was a godsend, though we had no milk and seldom any sugar. 1938 April, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter VI, in Homage to Catalonia, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC, page 80:
   • [O]nce again, as in 1803, we were on the brink of being sacrificed to the very lunacies of retrenchment. By a mere god-send, more troops happened to arrive from the Indian continent. 1843 November, Thomas De Quincey, “Ceylon”, in Speculations Literary and Philosophic: With German Tales and Other Narrative Papers (De Quincey’s Works; XII), London: James Hogg & Sons, →OCLC, page 27:
2. (UK, archaic, regional, specifically) An instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune; a windfall. ▸ The wreck of a ship which has washed up on shore, from which cargo, timber, etc., may be obtained.
   • But Biddy knew what's what, and she knew that Jack was the man for a woman who wished to be comfortable and happy; for, to say nothing of the fish, Jack had the supplying of half the gentlemen's houses of the country with the Godsends that came into the bay. 1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 528:
   • Its seldom sic [such] rich Godsends come on our coast—no since the Jenny and James came ashore in King Charlie's time. 1822, [Walter Scott], chapter VII, in The Pirate. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 183:
3. A person who provides greatly needed assistance.

Forms

Relateds

serendipity · godsent · manna

Translations (31)

sk dar z nebies (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · sv gudagåva (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · ar مُصَادَفَة سَعِيدَة (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · tl hulog ng langit (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · ar ضَرْبَة حَظّ (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · ru благода́ть (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · el θείο δώρο (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · mk бо́жји дар (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · grc ἕρμαιον (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · mk бла́годат (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · be бо́жы дар (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · de Glücksfall (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · fi onnenpotku (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · fr don du ciel (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · fi taivaanlahja (person who provides greatly-needed assistance) · ar مِنْحَة إِلٰهِيَّة (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · ru ниспосла́ние госпо́дне (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · sv skänk från ovan (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · ota غنیمت (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · bg бо́жи дар (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · pdt Säajen (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · ru бо́жий дар (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · it colpo di fortuna (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · uk бо́жий дар (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · pt dádiva (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · cs dar z nebes (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · pl dar niebios (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · pl dar niebios (person who provides greatly-needed assistance) · nl godsgeschenk (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · fi taivaanlahja (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune) · de Geschenk des Himmels (instance of unexpected benefit or good fortune)