Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 27th.
Today's word is benevolent, spelled B-E-N-E-V-O-L-E-N-T.
Benevolent is an adjective.
It can describe someone or something that is kind and generous,
or something that is organized for the purpose of doing good.
Here's the word used in a sentence from the Coeur d'Alene Press.
The Community Service Award is presented at the local, state, and national levels to individuals
and groups who have made outstanding voluntary, civil, heroic, or benevolent contributions to their communities.
One who is benevolent genuinely wishes other people well, a meaning reflected clearly in the word's Latin roots.
Benevolent comes from bene, meaning "good," and velle,
meaning "to wish." Other descendants of velle in English include volition,
which refers to the power to make one's own choices or decisions,
and voluntary, as well as the rare velleity, meaning either "the lowest degree of volition"
or "a slight wish or tendency." A more familiar velle descendant stands directly opposed to benevolent:
malevolent describes someone or something having or showing a desire to cause harm to another person.
With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.
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