benign, a.
(bɪˈnaɪn)
Forms: 4–6 benygn(e, -yngne, -yng(e, -ing, 4–7 benigne, -ingne, 7– benign.
[a. OF. benigne, benin:—L. benignus ‘kindly,’ prob. for benigenus, f. bene well + -genus born, of kind. Cf. malignus, prīvignus; for the sense L. gentīlis, F. gentil, Eng. gentle; also, Eng. kind, kindly, L. generōsus, Gr. γενναῖος.]
1. Of a kind disposition, gracious, kindly.
| c 1320 R. Brunne Medit. 1103 Ȝe weten weyl how benygne my dere sone was. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 353 Charity is benyngne. 1422 in Ellis Orig. Lett. ii. 30 I. 96 That it please your..Grace of your benigne pitee and grace, to releve and refresh your said pouere Oratour. c 1550 Scot. Poems 16th C. II. 130 Hee is fair, sober and bening, Sweet, meek, and gentle in all thing. a 1619 M. Fotherby Atheom. ii. xiv. § 4 It's he alone, euen he, the God beningne, That vs instructs, in euery blessed thing. 1850 Mrs. Browning Drama of Exile Poems I. 7 As well As the benignest angel of you all. |
† b. Gentle, meek, humble. Obs.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xvi. 7 Þe blosmes beth boxome speche and benygne lokynge. c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 287 Thise arn the wordes that the markis sayde To this benigne, verray, feithful mayde. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xci. 419 All men and women..that are lowe, ande meke, ande benigne. |
2. Exhibiting or manifesting kindly feeling in look, gesture, or action; bland, gentle, mild.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 1753 Benyng he was to eche in general. 1493 Petronylla (Pynson) 5 Benygne of porte, humble of face and chere. 1542 Hen. VIII. Decl. 193 We..gaue..benigne and gentyl audience to suche Ambassadours, as repayred hither. 1663 Butler Hud. i. iii. 880 Benigne & not blustrous Against a vanquisht Foe. 1777 Watson Philip II (1793) II. xiii. 114 Requesens indeed had a more benign and placid countenance than Alva. 1871 Blackie Four Phases i. 58 That when a thief takes your cloak you should thank him, like a benign Quaker, for his kindness. |
3. transf. Of things: Favourable, kind, fortunate, salutary, propitious; esp. in Astrol. opposed to malign, malignant, etc.
| a 1619 Donne Biathan. 32 Those reasons which are most Benigne..ought to have the best acceptation. 1667 Waterhouse Fire Lond. 34 By concurrence of circumstances, benign to, and corresponding with a vastative event. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 538 So shall the World goe on, To good malignant, to bad men benigne. a 1674 Clarendon Hist. Reb. III. xii. 262 The Government of these benign Stars was very short. 1743 Fielding J. Wild iii. x, His affairs began to wear a more benign aspect. 1853 C. Brontë Villette xvi. 169 On whose birth benign planets have certainly smiled. |
4. Of weather, soil, climate, etc.: Mild, salubrious, genial, kindly.
| c 1386 Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 44 fful lusty was the weder and benigne. 1503 Dunbar Thistle & Rose 32 Thy air it is nocht holsum nor benyng. 1665 G. Havers P. Della Valle's Trav. E. Ind. 86 The Air becomes more healthful, sweet, and more benigne both to sound and infirm. 1772 Pennant Tours Scot. (1774) 306 He sows his seed, and sees it flourish beneath a benign sun. 1868 G. Duff Pol. Surv. 209 The climate is benign, even in low marshy neighbourhoods. |
5. Med. † a. Of medicines: Gentle or mild in operation. Of food: Easily digested. Obs.
| 1651 tr. Bacon's Life & Death 23 Celsus adviseth Inter⁓changing, and Alternation of the Diet, but still with an Inclination to the more Benigne. 1652 French Yorksh. Spa vi. 64 More benigne purgatives. 1733 Cheyne Eng. Malady ii. ix. §3 (1734) 208 Aromatick Medicines..increase their benign, and..hinder their destructive Effects. a 1735 Arbuthnot (J.) These salts are of a benign mild nature. |
b. Of diseases: Of a mild type; not malignant.
| 1743 tr. Heister's Surg. 207 There is little or no difference between them [certain virulent tumours] and the benign sort. 1876 tr. Wagner's Gen. Pathol. 13 Benign Diseases are those in which the appreciable group of phenomena indicates a surely favorable issue. 1878 T. Bryant Pract. Surg. I. 549 Benign tumours are of slow growth. |
6. quasi-adv. = benignly.
| 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 374 Beseikand thame rycht hartlie and benyng, For to ressaue than as thair prince and king This Alpynus. a 1725 Pope Odyss. xiii. 63 His words well weigh'd, the general voice approved Benign. |
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Add: [3.] b. benign neglect, non-interference or neglect as a policy intended to benefit the subject more than continual attention; well-intentioned or beneficial neglect. orig. U.S.
| 1970 D. P. Moynihan in N.Y. Times 1 Mar. 69/4 The time may have come when the issue of race could benefit from a period of ‘benign neglect’. 1971 N.Y. Times 27 June ii. 31/6 Black composers and women composers share a heritage of musical subjugation—of malign as well as benign neglect. 1977 Harper's Mag. Jan. 85/2 How we do, and at the same time, do not, think about our children's books, is best reflected by that infuriating form of benign neglect, the roundup review. 1985 Daily Tel. 19 Jan. 16/2 How difficult it is for modern governments—busy, garrulous, interfering bodies—to exercise ‘benign neglect’. |