Chapter Ben Jochanan' to Benshie, Benshee of B by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Bend Sinister He has a bend sinister. He was not born in lawful wedlock. In heraldry, a band running from the upper right-hand corner to the lower left-hand corner (as the shield appears before you on paper) is called a bend-sinister, and is popularly, but erroneously, supposed to indicate bastardy.

Bendemeer A river that flows near the ruins of Chilminar' or Istachar', in the province of Chusistan' in Persia.

“There's a bower of roses by Bendemeer's stream,
And the nightingale sings round it all the day long.”
T. Moore: Lalla Rookh, Part 1.

Bender Sixpence.

Bendigo A rough fur cap, named from a noted pugilist, William Thompson; so nicknamed from his birthplace in Australia.

Bendy (Old ). The devil, who is willing to bend to anyone's inclination. The way of sin is so broad that every shade of error can be admitted without obstruction.

Benedicite (5 syl.). “Bless you:” a benediction used in the Roman Catholic Church; also the canticle.

Benedick A sworn bachelor caught in the wiles of matrimony, like Benedick in Shakespeare's comedy of Much Ado about Nothing.

“Let our worthy Cantab be bachelor or Benedick, what concern is it of ours.”-Mrs. Edwards: A Girton Girl, chap. xv.

    Benedick and Benedict are used indiscriminately, but the distinction should be observed.

Benedict A bachelor, not necessarily one pledged to celibacy, but simply a man of marriageable age, not married. St. Benedict was a most uncompromising stickler for celibacy.

“Is it not a pun? There is an old saying, `Needles and pins; when a man marries his trouble begins.' If so the unmarried man is benedictus.”- Life in the West.

Benedictines (4 syl.). Monks who follow the rule of St. Benedict, viz. implicit obedience, celibacy, abstaining from laughter, spare diet, poverty, the exercise of hospitality, and unremitting industry.

Benefice (3 syl.). Under the Romans certain grants of lands made to veteran soldiers were called beneficia, and in the Middle Ages an estate held ex mero beneficio of the donor was called “a benefice.” When the popes assumed the power of the feudal lords with reference to ecclesiastical patronage, a “living” was termed by them a benefice held under the pope as superior lord. This assumption roused the jealousy of France and England, and was stoutly resisted.

Benefit of Clergy Exemption of the clerical order from civil punishment, based on the text, “Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm” (1 Chron. xvi. 22). In time it comprehended not only the ordained clergy, but all who, being able to write and read, were capable of entering into holy orders. This law was abolished in the reign of George IV. (1827).

Benen-geli (See Hamet. )

Benet (French). A simpleton, so called because they were supposed to be, in a special way, the objects of God's care. (French, béni, Old French, beneit, from Latin, benedictus.) We call an idiot an “Innocent” (q.v.).