benediction

[ ben-i-dik-shuhn ]

noun

1. an utterance of good wishes.
2. the form of blessing pronounced by an officiating minister, as at the close of divine service.
3. a ceremony by which things are set aside for sacred uses, as a church, vestments, or bells.
4. (usually initial capital letter) Also called Ben·e·dic·tion of the Bless·ed Sac·ra·ment [ben-i-, dik, -sh, uh, n , uh, v , th, uh, , bles, -id , sak, -r, uh, -m, uh, nt]. a service consisting of prayers, at least one prescribed hymn, censing of the congregation and the Host, and a blessing of the congregation by moving in the form of a cross the ciborium or monstrance containing the Host.
5. the advantage conferred by blessing; a mercy or benefit.

benediction

/ ˌbɛnɪˈdɪkʃən /

noun

1. an invocation of divine blessing, esp at the end of a Christian religious ceremony
2. a Roman Catholic service in which the congregation is blessed with the sacrament
3. the state of being blessed

Derived Forms

• ˌbeneˈdictory, adjective

Other Words From

• pre·ben·e·dic·tion noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of benediction¹

1400–50; late Middle English (< Middle French ) < Latin benedictiōn- (stem of benedictiō ). See Benedictus, -ion

Word History and Origins

Origin of benediction¹

C15: from Latin benedictio , from benedīcere to bless; see benedicite

Example Sentences

Even the interior scenes are brushed with a golden light, and sometimes that light feels like a benediction.

From Time

On those few days when we can walk outside without risking harm to our lungs and brains, we greet each other with new benedictions.

From MIT Technology Review

He sets the pace for The Card Counter, which is what you might call a pensive fairytale, a story about guilt that can be burned away only with the benediction of love.

From Time

He makes a little tart for himself, folding nubs of hard butter into a pile of flour, a few granules of which float down around his pig comrade’s radiant, upturned face like a benediction.

From Time

But even before this celebrity benediction, Brooklyn was thriving in the City of Lights.

From The Daily Beast

The resulting pictures of Angelina, dipping her head as she receives the Sovereign's benediction, have gone around the world.

From The Daily Beast

Why do politicians and policy-makers need the benediction of celebrity to do their jobs?

From The Daily Beast

Where their benediction fell, their flocks were sure to go—or that was the idea.

From The Daily Beast

Finally one Christmas the queen sent over a gift of a Labrador retriever, indicating a social benediction of sorts.

From The Daily Beast

Those who have not received the benediction are pressing and elbowing each other to get near the altar.

From Project Gutenberg

Those who have received the benediction are instantly away to the Opera House or the wood of Boulogne.

From Project Gutenberg

The Rokurreas rose with one accord, and each turned to the men he was near to give them his parting benediction and salutation.

From Project Gutenberg

Let us take farewell like men, without a murmur and without a tear, and let me receive the benediction of a father before I die.

From Project Gutenberg

Man had wedded himself to Nature, and his works seemed to receive her seal and benediction.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• invocation