- desire to do good to others; goodwill; charitableness: to be filled with benevolence toward one's fellow creatures.
- an act of kindness; a charitable gift: She bequeathed many benevolences from her vast fortune.
- a forced contribution to the sovereign.
- inclination or tendency to help or do good to others; charity
- an act of kindness
- (in the Middle Ages) a forced loan or contribution exacted by English kings from their nobility and subjects
