# benevolence

> English word · Noun · IPA /bəˈnɛvələns/ · frequency rank #37,823

## Definitions
1. Disposition to do good.
2. Charitable kindness.
3. An altruistic gift or act.
4. A kind of forced loan or contribution levied by kings without legal authority, first so called under Edward IV in 1473.

## Etymology
Circa 1400, original sense “good will, disposition to do good”, Old French benivolence from Latin benevolentia (also directly from Latin), literally “good will”, from bene (“well, good”) + volentia, form of volēns, form of volō (“I wish”), components cognate to English benefit and voluntary, more distantly will (via Proto-Indo-European).

## Easily confused with
- **benevolent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/benevolence-vs-benevolent)

## Common misspellings (17)
`bbenevolence`, `beenvolence`, `beneovlence`, `benevloence`, `benevoelnce`, `benevolance`, `benevolecne`, `benevolencce`, `benevolenec`, `benevolennce`, `benevollence`, `benevolnece`, `benevvolence`, `bennevolence`, `benveolence`, `bneevolence`, `ebnevolence`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/benevolence