Definition of: benevolence

(bə·nev′ə·ləns) noun
1. Desire for the well-being or comfort of others; love for mankind; charitableness.
2. Any act of kindness or well-doing; charity; humanity.
3. An enforced loan sometimes exacted by English sovereigns. Synonyms: almsgiving, beneficence, benignity, bounty, charity, generosity, humanity, kind-heartedness, kindliness, kindness, liberality, munificence, philanthropy, sympathy. Originally beneficence was the doing well, benevolence the wishing or willing well to others; but benevolence has come to include beneficence and to displace it. Charity is now almost universally applied to some form of almsgiving and is much more limited in meaning than benevolence. Benignity suggests some occult power of blessing, such as was formerly ascribed to the stars; we may say a good man has the air of benignity. Kindness and tenderness are personal; benevolence and charity are general. Humanity is kindness and tenderness toward man or beast. We speak of the bounty of a generous host, the liberality or munificence of the founder of a college, or of the liberality of a person toward holders of conflicting beliefs. Philanthropy applies to wide schemes for human welfare, often, but not always, involving large expenditures in charity or benevolence. Compare MERCY. Antonyms: barbarity, brutality, churlishness, greediness, harshness, illiberality, inhumanity, malevolence, malignity, niggardliness, selfishness, self-seeking, stinginess, unkindness.