benefice

4 definitions found

benefice - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Benefice \Ben"e*fice\, n. [F. b['e]n['e]fice, L. beneficium, a
     kindness, in LL. a grant of an estate, fr. L. beneficus
     beneficent; bene well + facere to do. See Benefit.]
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     1. A favor or benefit. [Obs.] --Baxter.
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     2. (Feudal Law) An estate in lands; a fief.
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     Note: Such an estate was granted at first for life only, and
           held on the mere good pleasure of the donor; but
           afterward, becoming hereditary, it received the
           appellation of fief, and the term benefice became
           appropriated to church livings.
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     3. An ecclesiastical living and church preferment, as in the
        Church of England; a church endowed with a revenue for the
        maintenance of divine service. See Advowson.
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     Note: All church preferments are called benefices, except
           bishoprics, which are called dignities. But,
           ordinarily, the term dignity is applied to bishoprics,
           deaneries, archdeaconries, and prebendaryships;
           benefice to parsonages, vicarages, and donatives.
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  Benefice \Ben"e*fice\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Beneficed.]
     To endow with a benefice.
  
     Note: [Commonly in the past participle.]
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benefice - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  benefice
      n 1: an endowed church office giving income to its holder [syn:
           benefice, ecclesiastical benefice]
      v 1: endow with a benefice

benefice - Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) :

  BENEFICE, eccles. law. In its most extended sense, any ecclesiastical 
  preferment or dignity; but in its more limited sense, it is applied only to 
  rectories and vicarages.