A.Word.A.Day --benignant

A.Word.A.Day

Home

Jul 31, 2023

This week’s theme
Lesser-known counterparts

This week’s words
benignant
forgettery
endarken
penultimatum
presenteeism

Illustration: Anu Garg + AI

Previous week’s theme
Words from religion

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

If people can sing or speak in unison, why not in multison? Well, they can; it’s just that we use a different word because multison doesn’t exist in English.

Don’t expect perfect harmony in a language any more than in a big messy lump of humanity. Human languages are a reflection of people lumbering along, making things up as they go.

This week we have dived into the deep chambers of the English language to bring out unsung words. These are words that are counterparts of their well-known cousins. Rare lexical gems that deserve to be better known.

What words that don’t already exist would you like to make as counterparts? Share below or email us at words@wordsmith.org. Include your location (city, state).

benignant

PRONUNCIATION:

(bih/buh-NIG-nuhnt)

MEANING:

adjective:
1. Kind and gracious.
2. Beneficial.
3. Not harmful.

ETYMOLOGY:

Modeled after the word malignant. From benign, from Old French benigne, from Latin bene (well) + gignere (to beget). Earliest documented use: 1782.

USAGE:

“The itch to be seen as benignant is a hell of a lot better than the studied neutralism of indifference.”
Rex Murphy; The Right Spirit Behind the Giving; The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada); Jan 8, 2005.

“Human beings ... are forever ascribing malignant or benignant motives even to inanimate forces such as the weather, volcanoes, and internal-combustion engines.”
Stephen Budiansky; The Truth About Dogs; The Atlantic Monthly (Boston); Jul 1999.

See more usage examples of benignant in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Trust is the first step to love. -Premchand, novelist and poet (31 Jul 1880-1936)

We need your help

Help us continue to spread the magic of words to readers everywhere

Donate

Subscriber Services
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise