benefice Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an endowed church office giving income to its holder
    ecclesiastical benefice.
  2. verb endow with a benefice

WordNet


Ben"e*fice noun
Etymology
F. bénéfice, L. beneficium, a kindness , in LL. a grant of an estate, fr. L. beneficus beneficent; bene well + facere to do. See Benefit.
Definitions
  1. A favor or benefit. Obs. Baxter.
  2. (Feudal Law) An estate in lands; a fief. ✍ Such an estate was granted at first for life only, and held on the mere good pleasure of the donor; but afterward, becoming hereditary, it received the appellation of fief, and the term benefice became appropriated to church livings.
  3. An ecclesiastical living and church preferment, as in the Church of England; a church endowed with a revenue for the maintenance of divine service. See Advowson. ✍ All church preferments are called benefices, except bishoprics, which are called dignities. But, ordinarily, the term dignity is applied to bishoprics, deaneries, archdeaconries, and prebendaryships; benefice to parsonages, vicarages, and donatives.
Ben"e*fice transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Beneficed
Definitions
  1. To endow with a benefice. Commonly in the past participle.

Webster 1913