Meaning & use
benefaction
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountableformal
A gift of money or other help given to a person or organization, especially for a good cause.
Grammar: Countable: you can talk about one benefaction or several benefactions.
Patterns
- a benefaction to something
- make a benefaction
- receive a benefaction
The library was built with a large benefaction from a former student.
Several private benefactions paid for the new hospital wing.
She made a quiet benefaction to the school's scholarship fund.
noununcountableformal
The act of giving money or help to a person or organization in need.
Grammar: Uncountable here, so no plural and no 'a' before it: the work depends on benefaction.
Patterns
- an act of benefaction
- thanks to someone's benefaction
The charity survives through the benefaction of a few wealthy families.
His life was marked by quiet benefaction rather than public generosity.
Word forms
| plural | benefactions |
|---|
Common combinations
- a generous benefaction
- The museum thanked the family for their generous benefaction.
- make a benefaction
- He made a benefaction to the university every year.
- a private benefaction
- Private benefactions keep many small theaters open.
- receive a benefaction
- The hospital received a benefaction of two million dollars.
- an act of benefaction
- Giving away the land was a remarkable act of benefaction.
Synonyms and how they differ
- donation
- Donation is the everyday word for money given to a charity; benefaction sounds formal and slightly old-fashioned.
- gift
- Gift is broader and can be anything given to anyone, while a benefaction usually goes to a cause or an institution.
- endowment
- An endowment is a large sum given permanently to an institution; a benefaction may be a single, smaller gift.
Word family
- benefactor noun
- A person who gives money or help to a cause.
- benefactress noun
- An old-fashioned word for a female benefactor.
- benefaction noun
- The gift itself or the act of giving it.
Commonly confused: benefaction or beneficiary? benefaction or beneficial?
benefaction vs beneficiary
A beneficiary is the person who receives money or help, while a benefaction is the gift itself or the act of giving.
benefaction vs beneficial
Beneficial is an adjective meaning helpful or useful; benefaction is a noun meaning a gift.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'benefaction' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Benefaction' is a noun meaning a gift to a cause, so it fits as the subject of 'paid for the new roof'. Option A wrongly uses it for the person receiving, which should be 'beneficiary'. Option C confuses it with the adjective 'beneficial', and option D invents a verb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “benefaction”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.