bene - Wiktionary, the free dictionary


Article Images

From Middle English bene, from Old English bēn (“prayer, request, petition, favour, compulsory service”), from Proto-Germanic *bōniz (“supplication”). Cognate with Danish bøn (“prayer”), Swedish bön (“prayer”), Icelandic bæn (“prayer”), Icelandic bón (“request”). Related to ban. See also boon, bee.

bene (plural benes)

  1. (now chiefly dialectal) A prayer, especially to God; a petition; a boon.

bene (uncountable)

  1. Alternative form of benne (“sesame”)

UK C16. Probably from Latin bene or Italian bene.

bene (comparative benar, superlative benat)

  1. (obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) Good. [16th–19th c.]

    • 1828, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Pelham: or The Adventures of a Gentleman‎[1], page 383:

      Egad, you carry a bene blink aloft. Come to the ken alone—no! my blowen; did not I tell you I should bring a pater cove, to chop up the whiners for Dawson?

bene (plural benes)

  1. (obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) Tongue. [16th–18th c.]

    Stowe your bene!

bene

  1. plural of been

bene m

  1. Alternative form of bè

bene

  1. (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive of benen

Borrowed from Italian bene.

bene

  1. Synonym of bien

From Latin bene.

  • IPA(key): /ˈbɛ.ne/
  • Audio (Northern Italy):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛne
  • Hyphenation: bè‧ne

bene (invariable)

  1. upper-class, posh, high

    Parioli è il quartiere bene di Roma per eccellenza.

    Parioli is the posh Rome neighborhood par excellence.

bene (comparative meglio, superlative benissimo)

  1. well, nicely, OK, right
    Antonym: male

    Non è necessario spendere una fortuna per mangiare bene.

    You don’t need to spend a fortune to eat well.
  2. properly, correctly, rightly
    Synonym: correttamente
    Antonyms: erratamente, erroneamente

    La mia lavatrice non funziona bene, qualcuno mi può aiutare?

    My washing machine isn't working properly, can anybody help me?
  3. thoroughly, carefully
    Synonyms: attentamente, minuziosamente

    Leggere bene le istruzioni prima dell'uso.

    Read the instructions carefully before use.
  4. as much as, as many as
    Synonym: valore di

    Gli agricoltori della Luisiana hanno subito una perdita di ben 450 milioni di dollari a causa dell'uragano Gustav.

    Louisiana farmers face lost income of as much as $450 million because of Hurricane Gustav.

Terms derived from bene (adverb)

bene

  1. good!; fine!

    Bene! Sono proprio felice che hai avuto delle buone notizie!

    Good! I’m so glad you got some good news!

bene m (plural beni)

  1. good
    Antonym: male

    L'eterna lotta tra il bene e il male.

    The eternal struggle between good and evil.
  2. (usually in the plural) goods, property, possessions, belongings, assets
    Synonyms: proprietà, possedimenti

    Dopo il suo secondo infarto, Mario vendette tutti i suoi beni ed andò in Nepal.

    Following his second heart attack, Mario had sold all his property and left for Nepal.
  3. sake, good
    Antonym: male

    Lo faccio per il tuo bene!

    I'm doing this for your sake!
  4. happiness
    Synonym: felicità
    Antonym: tristezza

    Auguro ogni bene a te e alla tua famiglia.

    Wish you and your family every happiness.
  5. sweetheart, darling, love, bless someone's cotton socks
    Synonyms: amore, tesoro, amato
    Sei il mio bene! ― You are my sweetheart!
  6. asset

    From Old Latin *duenēd, from duenos (“good”), which gave bonus, from Proto-Italic *dwenos.

    bene (comparative melius, superlative optimē)

    1. well
      Antonym: male

      Tibi bene ex animo volo.

      I wish you well with all my heart.
    2. properly, exactly
    3. agreeably, favorably
    • “bene”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
    • “bene”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
    • bene in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
    • bene in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
    • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
      • so-and-so is in a very satisfactory position; prospers: agitur praeclare, bene cum aliquo
      • the matter progresses favourably, succeeds: aliquid (bene, prospere) succedit or procedit (opp. parum procedere, non succedere)
      • for a life of perfect happiness: ad bene beateque vivendum
      • to deserve well at some one's hands; to do a service to..: bene, praeclare (melius, optime) mereri de aliquo
      • I wish you all success in the matter: bene id tibi vertat!
      • you were right in...; you did right to..: recte, bene fecisti quod...
      • to have a good or bad reputation, be spoken well, ill of: bene, male audire (ab aliquo)
      • a good Latin scholar: bene latine doctus or sciens
      • to receive a liberal education: liberaliter, ingenue, bene educari
      • he is a young man of great promise: adulescens alios bene de se sperare iubet, bonam spem ostendit or alii de adulescente bene sperare possunt
      • to inculcate good (bad) principles: bene (male) praecipere alicui
      • to cross-examine cleverly, put leading questions: bene interrogare
      • that Greek proverb contains an excellent lesson: bene illo Graecorum proverbio praecipitur
      • to hope well of a person: bene, optime (meliora) sperare de aliquo (Nep. Milt. 1. 1)
      • a good conscience: conscientia recta, recte facti (factorum), virtutis, bene actae vitae, rectae voluntatis
      • a good conscience: mens bene sibi conscia
      • a moral (immoral) man: homo bene (male) moratus
      • a sound and sensible system of conduct: vitae ratio bene ac sapienter instituta
      • with the help of the gods: dis bene iuvantibus (Fam. 7. 20. 2)
      • and may God grant success: quod deus bene vertat!
      • to bless (curse) a person: precari alicui bene (male) or omnia bona (mala), salutem
      • to manage one's affairs, household, property well or ill: rem bene (male) gerere (vid. sect. XVI. 10a)
      • your health: bene tibi or te!
      • to entertain, regale a person: accipere aliquem (bene, copiose, laute, eleganter, regio apparatu, apparatis epulis)
      • a safe journey to you: bene ambula et redambula
      • good men of business: negotii bene gerentes (Quint. 19. 62)
      • to buy cheaply: parvo, vili pretio or bene emere
      • to have the good of the state at heart: bene, optime sentire de re publica
      • a success; a glorious feat of arms: res bene gesta
      • to win, lose a fight (of the commander): rem (bene, male) gerere (vid. sect. XII. 2, note rem gerere...)
      • I am sorry to hear..: male (opp. bene) narras (de)
    • “bene”, in The Perseus Project (1999) Perseus Encyclopedia‎[3]
    • “bene”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly

    bêne

    1. inflection of bêen:
      1. dative singular
      2. nominative/accusative/genitive plural

    From Old English bēan, from Proto-West Germanic *baunu, from Proto-Germanic *baunō. The final vowel is generalised from the Old English inflected forms.

    bene (plural benes)

    1. bean

    bēne

    1. inflection of bēn:
      1. accusative/genitive/dative singular
      2. nominative/accusative plural

    From Latin bene (“well”). Compare Italian bene.

    bene

    1. well

    bene

    1. well

    bene

    1. louse
    • Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎[4], Pacific linguistics