BENE means Good!

The Greek/Latin root word BENE means good or well. This root word holds a significant meaning in various English vocabularies. The first word that will be covered is the noun 'benevolence', which is the desire to do good to others. An example sentence with this word would be “the benevolence of the king won over his people because he gave them free land and food.” The next BENE word is the noun 'benefactor'. This is a person who gives benefits such as advantages or acts of kindness. The example sentence for this one would be “UH has many benefactors who donate time and money.” Another root word that goes hand in hand with benefactor is the noun 'beneficiary'. This is a name for someone who receives benefits, advantages, or acts of kindness. An example would be “UH is a beneficiary of many benefactors who donate to the school.” The final word that will be covered is the noun 'benediction'. This is a blessing or an expression of good wishes towards someone. A perfect example would be “The mother gave her son a benediction by saying ‘bless you!’ after his huge sneeze.” There are a few other BENE words such as 'benefit' and 'beneficial', but the ones that were just discussed are in the most need of recognition. It can be argued that most people have already heard the words benefit and beneficial at some point in everyday conversation, the others are more rarely used.
As one can easily see, these words describe very positive aspects and meanings. Every word with the root word of BENE will always mean something good. It could make sense to just add a 'un' to the beginning of 'benevolence' to prove this point wrong and turn the meaning into a negative one. As it turns out, 'unbolevelence' is not an approved word. The actual antonym of this word is 'malevolence' which has the opposite definition of evil or of ill will. This word comes from the opposing group of root words MAL, meaning bad. One of the major things to remember is that BENE is always good! I have created an original poem to help students remember the words and definitions for the various BENE words that have previously been discussed.

Benny the Best Bulldog

Benny the bulldog is the best dog in the world!

Even though he is considered by many to be just a dog, he is filled with great humanlike benevolence.
While devoting his life to being a police dog; he assists the elderly across the streets and prevents violence.

Whenever someone sneezes, he expresses his benedictions in a barking form of "bless you!"
His barks sound so understandable that one could mistake him for Scooby Doo!

One could think of Benny as being the world's greatest four-legged benefactor.
For all the effort and good he's done, he deserves a movie starring Benny as the hero and lead actor!

The old woman at the funeral home is Benny's greatest beneficiary.
She is grateful for the time and company Benny gives every day; it's almost as if he is her personal secretary!

Benny the bulldog is the best dog in the world!

-A poem by Natalie