bene
English
Etymology 1
From Middle English bene, from Old English bēn (“prayer, request, petition, favour, compulsory service”), from Proto-Germanic *bōniz (“supplication”). Cognate with Danish bøn (“prayer”), Swedish bön (“prayer”), Icelandic bæn (“prayer”), Icelandic bón (“request”). Related to ban. See also boon, bee.
Noun
bene (plural benes)
- (now chiefly dialectal) A prayer, especially to God; a petition; a boon.
- 1815, William Wordsworth, The Force of Prayer:
- What is good for a bootless bene?
Related terms
Adjective
bene (comparative benar, superlative benat)
- (obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) Good. [16th–19th c.]
- 1828, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Pelham: or The Adventures of a Gentleman, page 383:
- Egad, you carry a bene blink aloft. Come to the ken alone—no! my blowen; did not I tell you I should bring a pater cove, to chop up the whiners for Dawson?
Synonyms
- See Thesaurus:good
Derived terms
- bene bowse
- bene cove
- bene darkmans
- bene feaker
- bene feaker of gybes
- bene lightmans
- bene mort
- beneship
- beneshiply
- cut bene
References
- [Francis Grose] (1788) “Bene”, in A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 2nd edition, London: […] S. Hooper, […], →OCLC.
- Albert Barrère and Charles G[odfrey] Leland, compilers and editors (1889–1890) “bene”, in A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant […], volumes I (A–K), Edinburgh: […] The Ballantyne Press, →OCLC, page 107.
- John S[tephen] Farmer, compiler (1890) “bene”, in Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present. […], volume I, [London: […] Thomas Poulter and Sons] […], →OCLC, pages 178–179.
- Eric Partridge, The Routledge Dictionary of Historical Slang. Routledge, 1973. →ISBN.
Afrikaans
Dutch
Pronunciation
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -eːnə
Anagrams
Italian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbɛ.ne/
Audio (Northern Italy) (file) - Rhymes: -ɛne
- Hyphenation: bè‧ne
Adjective
bene (invariable)
- upper-class, posh, high
- Parioli è il quartiere bene di Roma per eccellenza.
- Parioli is the posh Rome neighborhood par excellence.
Adverb
bene (comparative meglio, superlative benissimo)
- well, nicely, OK, right
- Antonym: male
- Non è necessario spendere una fortuna per mangiare bene.
- You don’t need to spend a fortune to eat well.
- properly, correctly, rightly
- Synonym: correttamente
- Antonyms: erratamente, erroneamente
- La mia lavatrice non funziona bene, qualcuno mi può aiutare?
- My washing machine isn't working properly, can anybody help me?
- thoroughly, carefully
- Synonyms: attentamente, minuziosamente
- Leggere bene le istruzioni prima dell'uso.
- Read the instructions carefully before use.
- as much as, as many as
Derived terms
- alla bene e meglio
- benaccetto / ben accetto
- benalzato / ben alzato
- benarrivato / ben arrivato
- benché
- ben cotto
- ben detto
- bendisposto / ben disposto
- beneamato / bene amato
- benedire
- beneducato / bene educato
- benefattore
- benefico
- benemerente
- benemerito
- bene o male
- beneplacito
- benessere
- benestante
- benestare
- benevolo
- benfatto / ben fatto
- benigno
- beninformato / ben informato
- benintenzionato / ben intenzionato
- beninteso / ben inteso
- benino
- benmeritare
- bennato / ben nato
- benone
- benpensante / ben pensante
- benservito
- bensì
- bentornato / ben tornato
- bentosto / ben tosto
- bentrovato / ben trovato
- benveduto / ben veduto
- ben venga
- benvenuto / ben venuto
- benvisto / ben visto
- ben volentieri
- benvolere
- di bene in meglio
- nota bene
- perbene / per bene
- stare bene
- va bene
- volere bene
Related terms
Interjection
bene
Noun
bene m (plural beni)
- good
- Antonym: male
- L'eterna lotta tra il bene e il male.
- The eternal struggle between good and evil.
- (usually in the plural) goods, property, possessions, belongings, assets
- Synonyms: proprietà, possedimenti
- Dopo il suo secondo infarto, Mario vendette tutti i suoi beni ed andò in Nepal.
- Following his second heart attack, Mario had sold all his property and left for Nepal.
- sake, good
- Antonym: male
- Lo faccio per il tuo bene!
- I'm doing this for your sake!
- happiness
- sweetheart, darling, love, bless someone's cotton socks
- asset
Derived terms
- bene immobile
- bene mobile
- bene privato
- bene pubblico
- bene di stato
Further reading
bene on the Italian Wikipedia.Wikipedia it
Latin
Etymology
From Old Latin *duenēd, from duenos (“good”), which gave bonus, from Proto-Italic *dwenos, from Proto-Indo-European *dew- (“to show favor, revere”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈbe.ne/, [ˈbɛnɛ]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈbe.ne/, [ˈbɛːne]
Adverb
Related terms
Descendants
- Balkan Romance:
- Dalmatian:
- Italo-Romance:
- North Italian:
- Gallo-Romance:
- Occitano-Romance:
- Ibero-Romance:
- Insular Romance:
References
- “bene”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “bene”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- bene in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- bene in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- so-and-so is in a very satisfactory position; prospers: agitur praeclare, bene cum aliquo
- the matter progresses favourably, succeeds: aliquid (bene, prospere) succedit or procedit (opp. parum procedere, non succedere)
- for a life of perfect happiness: ad bene beateque vivendum
- to deserve well at some one's hands; to do a service to..: bene, praeclare (melius, optime) mereri de aliquo
- I wish you all success in the matter: bene id tibi vertat!
- you were right in...; you did right to..: recte, bene fecisti quod...
- to have a good or bad reputation, be spoken well, ill of: bene, male audire (ab aliquo)
- a good Latin scholar: bene latine doctus or sciens
- to receive a liberal education: liberaliter, ingenue, bene educari
- he is a young man of great promise: adulescens alios bene de se sperare iubet, bonam spem ostendit or alii de adulescente bene sperare possunt
- to inculcate good (bad) principles: bene (male) praecipere alicui
- to cross-examine cleverly, put leading questions: bene interrogare
- that Greek proverb contains an excellent lesson: bene illo Graecorum proverbio praecipitur
- to hope well of a person: bene, optime (meliora) sperare de aliquo (Nep. Milt. 1. 1)
- a good conscience: conscientia recta, recte facti (factorum), virtutis, bene actae vitae, rectae voluntatis
- a good conscience: mens bene sibi conscia
- a moral (immoral) man: homo bene (male) moratus
- a sound and sensible system of conduct: vitae ratio bene ac sapienter instituta
- with the help of the gods: dis bene iuvantibus (Fam. 7. 20. 2)
- and may God grant success: quod deus bene vertat!
- to bless (curse) a person: precari alicui bene (male) or omnia bona (mala), salutem
- to manage one's affairs, household, property well or ill: rem bene (male) gerere (vid. sect. XVI. 10a)
- your health: bene tibi or te!
- to entertain, regale a person: accipere aliquem (bene, copiose, laute, eleganter, regio apparatu, apparatis epulis)
- a safe journey to you: bene ambula et redambula
- good men of business: negotii bene gerentes (Quint. 19. 62)
- to buy cheaply: parvo, vili pretio or bene emere
- to have the good of the state at heart: bene, optime sentire de re publica
- a success; a glorious feat of arms: res bene gesta
- to win, lose a fight (of the commander): rem (bene, male) gerere (vid. sect. XII. 2, note rem gerere...)
- I am sorry to hear..: male (opp. bene) narras (de)
- so-and-so is in a very satisfactory position; prospers: agitur praeclare, bene cum aliquo
- “bene”, in The Perseus Project (1999) Perseus Encyclopedia
- “bene”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly
Middle Dutch
Middle English
Etymology
From Old English bēan, from Proto-West Germanic *baunu, from Proto-Germanic *baunō. The final vowel is generalised from the Old English inflected forms.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbɛːn(ə)/
References
- “bēn(e, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Sardinian
West Makian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbe.n̪e/