benediction
noun
Simple meaning
A short invocation for help, blessing and guidance from God, said on behalf of another person or persons.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
behnuhdikshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
bɛnəˈdɪkʃən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
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).
Help, good fortune or reward from God or another supernatural source.
In the Anglican church, the ceremony used to institute an abbot, analogous to the consecration of a bishop.
A Roman Catholic rite by which bells, banners, candles, etc., are blessed with holy water and formally dedicated to God.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: 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).
Used this way, benediction is a reasonably familiar word with a mildly favourable edge. This is a religious use: it carries the weight of tradition and ceremony.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Positive and appreciative
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Religion/spirituality
- Historical writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- hymnnoun
- sacramentnoun
- torahnoun
- processionnoun
- gesturenoun
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.