Benison
n.kind, hopefulliterary
What it means
A blessing or spoken wish for another person's happiness.
Reach for it when using an old literary word for a sincere blessing
The travelers carried their grandmother's benison into the uncertain season.
Choose between these
5- everyday
good wishes
a secular audience needs plain affectionate language
not when Good wishes lack benison's sacred or literary resonance.
- warm
familiar language for goodwill or divine favor is preferred
not when Blessing can also mean a fortunate thing rather than spoken wishes.
- formal
a ceremonial blessing closes a religious gathering
not when Benediction is more institutional and usually has a formal setting.
- formal
prayer
the words are explicitly addressed to a deity
not when A prayer may request help for oneself and need not bless another person.
- literary
divine favor or a short blessing before food is meant
not when Grace has many unrelated senses and can obscure the intended act.
Said against
3- curse
- malediction
- ill wish
It naturally appears in
3- give a benison
The elder rose to give a benison before the boats departed.
- parting benison
Her parting benison steadied the young musicians before the tour.
- mother's benison
He remembered his mother's benison whenever the work felt lonely.
Where this comes from
Benison is archaic or literary. Blessing will be clearer in most modern contexts.
- Wiktionary, English noun archaic sense: blessing opens in a new tab · retrieved 2026-07-26
The definition and the example on this page are written here. The dictionaries above ground which meaning is being described, not the wording.