bénévole
French, noun
bénévole is spelled B-É-N-É-V-O-L-E (8 letters) and appears 4.4 times per million words in written French, the 12,326th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Bénévole is a French feminine noun meaning “volunteer (someone who works voluntarily without payment)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With an accent, bénévolé is a different word: “past participle of bénévoler”. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Personne qui effectue un travail bénévole”.
What does bénévole mean in English?
adjective
- 1
voluntary, unpaid (working or done without payment)
noun
- 1
femininemasculinevolunteer (someone who works voluntarily without payment)
verb
- 1
past participle of bénévoler
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. Qui fait volontairement, de bon gré, un travail non rémunéré. 2. Qui est ou que l’on suppose favorablement disposé.
noun: 1. Personne qui effectue un travail bénévole.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of bénévole
- bénévoles plural
- bénévolée feminine
- bénévolés masculine plural
- bénévolées feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to bénévole
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is bénévole in French?
bénévole appears 4.4 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).