benignity

[ bih-nig-ni-tee ]
See synonyms for benignity on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural be·nig·ni·ties.
  1. the quality of being benign; kindness.

  2. Archaic. a good deed or favor; an instance of kindness: benignities born of selfless devotion.

Origin of benignity

1
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English benignite, from Middle French, Old French, from Latin benignitās; see benign, -ity

Other words from benignity

  • un·be·nig·ni·ty, noun, plural un·be·nig·ni·ties.

Words Nearby benignity

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use benignity in a sentence

  • And with him was old Lord Gervase Scoresby, his friend and cousin, the very incarnation of benignity and ruddy health.

    Mistress Wilding | Rafael Sabatini
  • The great man smiled again, with a more intolerable benignity than before.

  • And the man looking on the woman saw one whose brow had all quiet, whose heart had all benignity.

  • It was perhaps the feeling of his great strength, of his possible fierceness that gave the touch of benignity to him.

    The Beach of Dreams | H. De Vere Stacpoole
  • The gentleness and benignity of his disposition never made him forget what was due to discipline.

British Dictionary definitions for benignity

benignity

/ (bɪˈnɪɡnɪtɪ) /


nounplural -ties
  1. the quality of being benign; favourable attitude

  2. a kind or gracious act

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012