benediction

From Middle English benediccion, from Ecclesiastical Latin benedictio, benedictionis, from benedictus (“blessed; well spoken of”). Doublet of benison.

• IPA^(key): /ˌbɛnəˈdɪkʃən/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪkʃən

benediction (countable and uncountable, plural benedictions)

1. A short invocation for help, blessing and guidance from God, said on behalf of another person or persons (sometimes at the end of a church worship service).

   Synonym: blessing

   to pronounce / give / say the benediction; the nuptial benediction; a parting benediction

   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vii]:

     O, look upon me, sir,
     And hold your hands in benediction o’er me.

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 1281-1282:

     So saying, he [the angel] arose; whom Adam thus
     Follow’d with benediction.

   • 1748, [Samuel Richardson], chapter 50, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume IV, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson;  […], →OCLC, page 290:

     My pen (its last scrawl a benediction on my beloved) dropt from my fingers;

   • 1876, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter XXXIV, in Daniel Deronda, volume II, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book IV (Gwendolen Gets Her Choice), page 354:

     Cohen kept on his own hat, and took no notice of the visitor, but stood still while the two children went up to him and clasped his knees: then he laid his hands on each in turn and uttered his Hebrew benediction; whereupon the wife, who had lately taken baby from the cradle, brought it up to her husband and held it under his outstretched hands, to be blessed in its sleep.

   • 1961, V. S. Naipaul, A House for Mr Biswas‎, Penguin, published 1992, Part 2, Chapter 6, p. 537:

     Long brahminical hairs sprouted out of his ears, and he drew further attention to himself by closing his eyes, neatly shaking away tears, putting a hand on Owad’s head and speaking a Hindi benediction.

2. In the Anglican church, the ceremony used to institute an abbot, analogous to the consecration of a bishop.
   • 1726, John Ayliffe, “Of Abbots, Priors, Abbies, Priories, &c.”, in Parergon juris canonici anglicani: or, A commentary, by way of supplement to the canons and constitutions of the Church of England‎, London: for the author, page 13:

     What Consecration is to a Bishop, that Benediction is to an Abbot; but in a different way: For a Bishop is not properly such till Consecration; but an Abbot being elected and confirm’d, is properly such before Benediction.

3. A Roman Catholic rite by which bells, banners, candles, etc., are blessed with holy water and formally dedicated to God.
   • 1945, Evelyn Waugh, chapter 5, in Brideshead Revisited […], 3rd edition, London: Chapman & Hall, →OCLC, book 1 (Et in Arcadia Ego), page 98:

     [He] later liked to attend benediction in the chapel at Brideshead and see the ladies of the family with their necks arched in devotion under their black lace mantillas; [...]

4. Help, good fortune or reward from God or another supernatural source.

   Synonyms: blessing, grace

   • c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act XIV, scene iv]:

     […] they throng who should buy first, as if my trinkets had been hallowed and brought a benediction to the buyer:

   • 1847 November 1, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline, a Tale of Acadie, Boston, Mass.: William D. Ticknor & Company, →OCLC, part I:

     Homeward serenely she walked with God’s benediction upon her.

• malediction

• benedictional
• benedictionary
• benedictive
• benedictory