beneath 
II. )>rc)>. 1. Below; under: with referem-i- 
t o what is overhead or towers aloft : as, beneath 
the same roof. 
For all beni'.atti the moon 
Would I not leap upright. Sltak., Lear, iv. r>. 
As I lay beneath the woodland tree. 
Wttitlii'r, Mogg Meponr. 
They sat 
lli'nrttth a world-old yew-tree, darkening half 
The cloisters. FfmiyiMi, Holy (irail. 
2. Underneath, whetlier in Immediate OOntaol 
with the under side of, or further down than ; 
lower in place than : as, to place a cushion !- 
in-nth CHIC; hi-iirath one's feet ; lii-iicnth the sur- 
face : sometimes with verbs of motion : as, 
he sunk beneath the wave. 
As he was raising his arm to make a blow, an arrow 
pierced him, just If-neath the shoulder, at the open part 
of the corselet. /'</*/</, i;i;ui:nla. p. (i!t. 
3. Under the weight or pressure of; under the 
action or influence of : as, to sink beneath a 
burden. 
Our country sinks beneath the yoke. 
fihak., Macbeth, iv. :(. 
It is my fate 
To bear and bow beneath a thousand griefs. 
Beau, ami Fl., Maid's Tragedy, Hi. 1. 
Wherever lights appeared, the flashing seimetar was at 
its deadly work, atid all who attempted resistance fell 
beneath, its edge. // rinfr, Granada, p. 21. 
4. Lower than, in rank, dignity, degree, or ex- 
cellence; below: as, brutes are beneath man; 
man is beneath the angels. 
Maintain 
Thy father's soul : thou hast no blood to mix 
With any beneath prince. Shirt?;/, Bird in a Cage, i. 1. 
Beyond the limits of a vulgar fate, 
Beneath the Good how far but far above the Great. 
Gray, Prog, of Poetry, iii. 3. 
5. Unworthy of; unbecoming; not equal to; 
below the level of: as, beneaffi contempt. 
He will do nothing that is beneath his high station. 
Atterbury. 
He had never sullied himself with business, but had 
chosen to starve like a man of honour, than do anything 
beneath his quality. Addison, Trial of Punctilios. 
Beneath the salt*, in a subordinate or inferior position. 
My proud lady 
Admits him to her table ; marry, ever 
Beneath the. xalt, and there he sits the subject 
Of her contempt and scorn. 
Massinger, The City Madam, i. 1. 
= Syn. Under, etc. See below. 
beneatht (be-neth'), a. Lower. 
This beneath world. Shak., T. of A., i. 1. 
Benedic (ben'e-dik), n. [LL., prop. 2d pers. 
sing. pres. impv. of benedicere, bless: see bene- 
dict.'] 1. The canticle beginning in Latin 
"Benedic, anima mea," and in English "Praise 
the Lord, O my soul," from Psalm ciii. in the 
American Prayer-Book it is an alternative of the Deit.it 
minereatur (as ordered in 1886, either of the Nunc dimit- 
tis or Deus minereatur) at Evening Prayer. 
2. A musical setting of this canticle. 
Benedicite (ben-f-dls'i-te), n. [LL., prop. 2d 
pers. pi. pres. inipv. of benedicere, bless: see 
benedict.'] 1. The canticle or hymn beginning 
in Latin ' ' Benedicite omnia opera Domini," and 
in English " O all ye works of the Lord, bless ye 
the Lord," taken from " The Song of the Three 
Holy Children " forming part of the Apocrypha 
in the English Bible. It is essentially an expansion 
of Psalm cxlviii., and has been used from a very early 
period in the Christian church. In the Anglican service 
it is used as an alternate to the Te Deum. 
2. A musical setting of this canticle. 3. 
\l, c.] An invocation of a blessing, especially a 
blessing before a repast, as said in religious 
communities, etc., answering to the grace or 
thanksgiving after it. 4f. [A common use in 
ME., where the word was often contracted ben- 
dicite,benste.~\ Used interjectionally: (a) Bless 
you ! expressing a wish. (6) Bless us! bless me! 
expressing surprise. 
benedick (ben'e-dik), n. See benedict. 
benedict (ben'e-dikt), a. and n. [In ME. bene- 
dight, < LL. benedietus, blessed (in ML. often as 
a proper name Benedietus, whence in E. Bene- 
dict, Benedick, and (through F.) Bennet, Ben- 
nett; cf. also beneft, benneft), pp. of benedicere, 
bless, use words of good omen, in class. L. al- 
ways as two words, bene dicere : bene, well ; 
dicere, say, speak.] I.t a. Blessed; benign; 
salutary; especially, in mea., haying mild and 
salubrious qualities : as, "medicines that are 
benedict," Bacon, Nat. Hist., $ 19. 
II. n. [In allusion to Benedick, one of the 
characters in Shakspere's play of "Much Ado 
about Nothing " ; esp. to the phrase, " Benedick, 
the married man" (i. 1.). Benedick is an easy 
form of Benedict."] A sportive name for a 
say 
newly married man, especially one who has 
been long a bachelor, or who has been in the 
habit of ridiculing marriage. 
Having ahand 1 all his old misogyny, and liii pro 
fessions of >ili^li- imlepeml'-IH'r. COWM has heroin.- :i 
h,'n,',li,'k. <;. 1'. It. Jaiaen, Henry .Masti-rton. 
Benedictine (ben-e-dik'tiu), a. and it. [< Ml,. 
Ill iiiilii-liinis, < Hi iiiilii-tux : see lit iniln-l. \ I. ti. 
Pertaining to St. Benedict, or to the order of 
monks or the monastic rule originating from 
him. 
II. H. 1. A member of an order of monks 
founded nt Monte Cassino, between Rome and 
Naples, by St. Benedict, of Xursia, about A. D. 
;>!iO. The rules of the unlt-r (which was open to pei-Mins 
of all ages, conditions, and eallillgs) enjoined Ml>-n< < :unl 
vine useful employment when not engaged in divine ser- 
vire. Kvery monastery had a library, every monk :i pm 
and tablets, and study and the copying of manus< i ipt- 
\vrn- em onrageil. The monasteries became centers of 
learning and the liberal arts, and the name of the order 
s> nom moils with scholarship and erudition. The order 
was introduced into England about A. i>. 6OO, by St. Ail- 
un-tinc of canterbury. The oldest establishment in the 
I'nited stairs is that of St. Vincent's Abbey in Westmore 
land county, Pennsylvania, founded by a colony of monks 
from Bavaria in 1846. There arc also different congrega 
tions of nuns known as Benedictines, and following the 
rule of St. Benedict; they date from the same time, owing 
their foundation to his sister, St. Seholastica. 
2. A cordial or liqueur, resembling chartreuse, 
distilled at Fecamp in Normandy. It was ori- 
ginally prepared by the Benedictine monks, but since the 
Kivnrh revolution has been made by a secular company. 
benediction (bcn-e-dik'shon), n. [< LL. bene- 
(lirtio(n-), blessing, < brnedicere, bless, use words 
of good omen : see benedict. Benison is a shorter 
form of the same word.] 1. The act of speak- 
ing well to or of; blessing. 2. (a) An invo- 
cation of divine blessing, either by a private 
individual or a church official ; specifically, in 
the Christian church generally, the form of 
blessing pronounced by the person officiating, 
at the close of divine service and oil several 
other occasions, as marriages, the visitation of 
the sick, etc. 
The benedictions of the good Franciscans accompanied 
us as we rode away from the convent. 
B. Taylor, Lands of the Saracen, p. 103. 
The benediction ... is given in a different manner by 
the Oriental Church from that used by the Latins. The 
Priest joins his thumb and third finger, and erects and 
joins the other three : and is thus supposed to symbolise 
the procession of the Holy Ghost from the Father alone ; 
and, according to others, to form the sacred letters I H C 
by the position of his fingers. 
J. M. Xeale, Eastern Church, i. 352, note. 
When the benediction is pronounced officially by a priest 
or clergyman, he usually stands with hands uplifted, and 
the congregation receive it with bowed heads. Illustra- 
tions of ancient benedictions are afforded by Gen. xxiv. 60 
(a nuptial blessing) ; Gen. xxvii. 27-29 (a death-bed bless- 
ing) ; Num. vi. 24-27 (a priestly blessing). The apostolic 
benediction is that proceeding from the pope, and is either 
given personally, as at Rome, or by delegation in other 
parts of the world. See Uttrina. (b) The rite of in- 
stituting an abbot or an abbess, and of receiving 
the profession of a nun or of a religious knight. 
The action of the archbishops was excluded, and the 
abbots elect sought continuation, if not benediction also, 
at Rome. Stubbs, Const. Hist., 710. 
(c) An additional ceremony performed by a 
priest after the regular celebration of matri- 
mony: called the nuptial benediction, (d) The 
ceremony by which things are set aside for 
sacred uses, as a church or vestments, bells, 
etc., or things for ordinary use are hallowed, 
as houses, etc. 3. The advantage conferred 
by blessing or the invocation of blessings. 
Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament ; adver- 
sity is the blessing of the New, which carried the greater 
benediction, and the clearer revelation of God's favour. 
Bacon, Of Adversity. 
Over and above this [sense for light and shade] we have 
received yet one more gift, something not quite necessary, 
a benediction, as it were, in our sense for and enjoyment 
of colour. 0. A r . Rood, Modern Chromatics, p. 304. 
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, one of the 
more common religious services of the Roman Catholic 
Church, in which, after the solemn exposition, incensing, 
and adoration of the eucharist, which is inclosed in a 
monstrance and placed under a canopy on the altar, the 
officiating priest, taking the monstrance in his hands, 
makes the sign of the cross with it in blessing over the 
kneeling faithful. The apostolic benediction, a bene- 
diction in the words of -2. Cor. xiii. 14. 
benedictional, benediction ale (ben-e-dik'- 
shpn-al, ben-e-dik-sho-na'le), n. [< ML. bene- 
dictionalis (sc. liber, book), < LL. benedictio(n-) : 
see benediction.} In the Rom. Cath. Ch., a book 
containing a collection of benedictions or bless- 
ings used in its religious services. 
Psalters, books of Gospels, Benedictionalg, Canons, and 
other treatises relating to the discipline and ceremonial 
of the Church. Edinburgh Ren., CLXIII. 53. 
The Sarum, like the Anglo-Saxon Benedictional, con- 
tained the forms for blessing the people, by the bishop, at 
high mass. Iloclr, Church of our Fathers, III. ii. 213. 
benefic 
benedictionary (ben - e - dik ' shon - a - ri), n. f < 
.ML. us if In iirilii-tii>H<n-iii>ii,<. LL. benedictio(n-) : 
see lit-iii-ilictiiiii.] A collection of benedictions 
or blessings ; a benedictional. 
The taUtKeMMOrV of Ilishop Atlll-lwooil. /,';,. Still. 
benedictive (bcn-c-dik'tiv), ii. [< LL. lii-iii - 
ilirtiix (see lii'in<lict} + -in:] Tending to bless; 
jiving n blessing. 
His paternal prayers ami /*.*'/''<//>, ( ompr.Tation,. 
/(/;. ll,tii.l:,i Mem. of I'.p. lirounrigg. p. 2ul. 
benedictory (ben-e-dik'to-ri), n. [< LL. a 
if */llllt'lli<-/illinx, < In lil-llil'tilK : see In Ill-diet.'] 
Blessing; expressing a benediction or wishes 
for ;_" "a In iii-ilirlnrii prayer," Thack- 
' rii;/. 
Benedietus (bcn-e-dik'tus), ii. [LL., blessed: 
see bi-nntii-l. ] 1.' The short canticle or hymn, 
also distinctively called the /(<////, <// - 
nil, beginning in Latin "Benedietus <|iii venit 
in nomine Domini," and in English "Blessed 
is He that cometh in the name of the Lord," 
preceded and followed by "Hosanna in Excel- 
sis," that is, "Hosanna in the highest," which 
is usually appended in the Koman Catholic 
mass to the Sanctus, from Psalm cxviii. 26, 
Luke xix. 38, etc. The /;. ,,,,/.,, .;, <,,,;/ was re- 
tained in the Prayer-Book of 1549, and is sung in some 
Anglican churches at choral or solemn celebrations of the 
holy communion, just liefore the prayer of consecration. 
2. A musical setting of this canticle, forming 
a separate movement in a mass. 3. The can- 
ticle or hymn beginning in Latin "Benedietus 
Dominus Deus Israel, "and in English "Blessed 
be the Lord God of Israel"; the song of Zach- 
arias, Luke i. 68-71. In the English Prayer-Book it 
is the canticle following the second lesson with the Jubi- 
late as Its alternate. In the American Prayer-Book only 
the first four verses are given ; alterations made in 1886 
direct the use of the whole canticle on Sundays in Advent, 
but permit the omission at other times of the portion fol- 
lowing the fourth verse. 
4. A musical setting of this canticle. 
benedightt (ben'e-dit), a. [ME. benedyght, ben- 
edigttt, < LL. benedietus : see benedict.] Blessed. 
And soul more white 
Never through martyrdom of fire was led 
To its repose ; nor can in books be read 
The legend of a life more benediyht. 
Longfellow, The Cross of Snow. 
bene discessit(be'nedi-ses'it). [L.,hehasde- 
parted honorably.] In English universities, 
a permission by the master and fellows of a 
college to a student to leave that college and 
enter another. 
Mr. Pope, being about to remove from Trinity to Em- 
manuel by bene dmceMtt, was desirous of taking my rooms. 
Alma Mater, i. 167. 
bene exeat (be'ne ek'se-at). [L., let him depart 
honorably.] A certificate of good character 
given by a bishop to one of his clergy removing 
to another diocese : as, he brought a bene exeat 
from his last bishop. 
benefaction (ben-e-fak'shon), n. [< LL. bene- 
faetio(n-), < benejactug, pp. of benefacere, in 
class. L. always written as two words, bene 
facere, do good to, benefit : bene , well ; facere, 
do. Cf. benefit.'] 1. The act of conferring a 
benefit ; a doing of good ; beneficence. 
Worshipping God and the Lamb in the temple : God, for 
his benefaction in creating all things, and the Lamb, for 
his benefaction in redeeming us with his blood. Newton. 
2. A benefit conferred; especially, a charitable 
donation. 
A man of true generosity will study in what manner to 
render his benefaction most advantageous. 
Melmoth, tr. of Pliny, vll. 18. 
= Syn. 1. Kindness. 2. Gift, contribution, alms, charity. 
benefactor (ben-e-fak'tor), H. [< LL. benefactor, 
< benefacere, do good to: see benefaction.'] 1. 
Literally, a well-doer; one who does good. 
[Rare.] 
Benefactors ? Well ; what benefactors are they ? are they 
not malefactors? Shak., M. for M., ii. 1. 
2. One who confers a benefit ; a kindly helper : 
as, " the great benefactor of mankind," Milton, 
P. E., iii. 82. 
He is the true benefactor and alone worthy of Honor 
who brings comfort where before was wretchedness, who 
dries the tear of sorrow. 
Sunnier, True Grandeur of Nations. 
3. One who makes a benefaction to or endows 
a charitable or other institution ; one who 
makes a bequest. 
benefactress (ben-e-fak'tres), . [< benefactor 
+ -fsa."] A female' benefactor, 
benefic (be-nef'ik), a. and n. [Formerly bene- 
'que ; < L. beneficus, < bene, well, + facere, do.] 
a. 1. Beneficent. [Bare.] 
