bene

Etymology 1

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.

noun

  1. (now chiefly dialectal) A prayer, especially to God; a petition; a boon.
    What is good for a bootless bene? 1815, William Wordsworth, The Force of Prayer

Etymology 2

noun

  1. Alternative form of benne (“sesame”)

Etymology 3

UK C16. Probably from Latin bene or Italian bene.

adj

  1. (obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) Good.
    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? 1828, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Pelham: or The Adventures of a Gentleman, page 383

noun

  1. (obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) Tongue.
    Stowe your bene!

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