[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

benevolent \benev"olent\, a. l. benevolens, -entis; bene well
   adv. of bonus good + volens, p. pr. of volo i will, i wish.
   see bounty, and voluntary.
   having a disposition to do good; possessing or manifesting
   love to mankind, and a desire to promote their prosperity and
   happiness; disposed to give to good objects; kind;
   charitable. -- benev"olently, adv.
   1913 webster

   syn: benevolent, beneficent.

   usage: etymologically considered, benevolent implies wishing
          well to others, and beneficent, doing well. but by
          degrees the word benevolent has been widened to
          include not only feelings, but actions; thus, we speak
          of benevolent operations, benevolent labors for the
          public good, benevolent societies. in like manner,
          beneficent is now often applied to feelings; thus, we
          speak of the beneficent intentions of a donor. this
          extension of the terms enables us to mark nicer shades
          of meaning. thus, the phrase "benevolent labors" turns
          attention to the source of these labors, viz.,
          benevolent feeling; while beneficent would simply mark
          them as productive of good. so, "beneficent
          intentions" point to the feelings of the donor as bent
          upon some specific good act; while "benevolent
          intentions" would only denote a general wish and
          design to do good.
          1913 webster
see also:
bounty voluntary benev"olently benevolent beneficent 

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

benevolent
     adj 1: doing or producing good syn: beneficent, gracious
     2: intending or showing kindness; "a benevolent society"
     3: having or showing or arising from a desire to promote the
        welfare or happiness of others; "his benevolent smile"; "a
        benevolent nature" syn: good ant: malevolent
     4: generous in providing aid to others syn: freehearted
     5: generous in assistance to the poor; "a benevolent
        contributor"; "eleemosynary relief"; "philanthropic
        contributions" syn: beneficent, eleemosynary, philanthropic
see also:
beneficent gracious good malevolent freehearted eleemosynary 
philanthropic 

[3] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

108 moby thesaurus words for "benevolent":
   accommodating, advantageous, affable, agreeable, almsgiving,
   altruistic, amiable, amicable, auspicious, beneficent, beneficial,
   benign, benignant, big, bighearted, bon, bonny, braw, bueno,
   capital, caring, charitable, chivalrous, cogent, commendable,
   compassionate, complaisant, compliant, conciliatory, considerate,
   cooperative, decent, eleemosynary, elegant, estimable, excellent,
   expedient, fair, famous, favorable, fine, forbearing, forgiving,
   freehearted, friendly, generous, good, goodly, gracious, grand,
   greathearted, healthy, helpful, humane, humanitarian, indulgent,
   kind, kindly, kindly-disposed, largehearted, laudable, liberal,
   lofty, long-suffering, longanimous, magnanimous, neighborly, nice,
   noble, obliging, open-handed, openhanded, overindulgent,
   overpermissive, patient, permissive, philanthropic, placable,
   pleasant, profitable, propitious, public-spirited, regal, royal,
   salutary, skillful, sound, sparing, splendid, sympathetic,
   tenderhearted, thoughtful, tolerant, unresentful, unrevengeful,
   useful, valid, very good, virtuous, warm-hearted, welfare,
   welfare statist, welfarist, well-affected, well-disposed,
   well-intentioned, well-meaning, well-meant

Benevolent >> B Words
Benevolent, definition of term: Benevolent
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