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Friday November 13, 2009

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benignant [bih-NIG-nuhnt]

adjective

1. Kind; gracious.
2. Pleasant and beneficial in nature or influence; favorable.

• Being knowledgeable is good - Mikoloski proved that when she landed the job as the [Dixie] Chicks' yoga trainer - but there's also luck. The kind of luck that had an agent call the wrong number, got the right friend to answer the phone, and gave Mikoloski a truly benignant gig.
  Mekeisha Madden, "She taught the Chicks new tricks Misdirected call led yoga instructor to an 88-city tour with popular trio", The News Tribune, Apr 22, 2001
• "It seemed to me that I had never seen any other human being who was so stately, and yet benignant. His features had a sad, mournful, almost haggard, and still hopeful expression. Everyone was impressed with his sincerity and earnestness," Carr wrote.'Plain and Homely'
  "Books About Lincoln Donated to Schools", Omaha World - Herald, Feb 18, 1991
• All my misery vanished--for a child might know that no harm could comewith that benignant countenance.
  Mark Twain (1835 - 1910) American author and humorist. Sketches New and Old, Part 5 - A Ghost Story (1868)

Origin of the Word

Benignant , approximately 1782, derives from Latin, 'benignus': good-natured ('bene': good, well + '-gnus,' from 'gignere': to bear, to beget) on the pattern of earlier 'malignant.'