# beneficiary

Pronunciation: say "ben-uh-FISH-uh-ree" US /ˌbɛn.ɪˈfɪʃ.ɚ.i/, UK /ˌbɛn.ɪˈfɪʃ.əɹ.i/

## Noun

1. A person or group that benefits or receives an advantage from an action, decision, or situation.
   - Simple: A person who gets something good from a situation, plan, or event.
   - _Small businesses were the chief beneficiaries of the tax cut._
   - _He turned out to be an unintended beneficiary of his rival's mistake._
2. A person entitled to benefit from the distribution of assets, especially from a trust or a deceased person's estate.
   - Simple: A person who receives money or property from someone's will or trust.
   - _The trust names his two daughters as its beneficiaries._
   - _As the sole beneficiary of the estate, she inherited the farmhouse and the surrounding land._
3. The person or entity designated to receive the payout of an insurance policy.
   - Simple: The person who gets the money when an insurance policy pays out.
   - _She updated the beneficiary on her life insurance policy after the divorce._
   - _The policy's beneficiaries split the death benefit equally._

## Adjective

4. Held in subordination to a superior, as a feudal office or possession; having only a dependent and secondary right to what one holds.
   - Simple: Held or used with the permission of a more powerful person, not fully owned.
   - _Under the feudal system, a vassal's beneficiary holdings reverted to the lord upon any breach of loyalty._
   - _The bishop's lands were beneficiary, granted by the crown and revocable at its pleasure._
5. Given or bestowed as a gratuity rather than as something earned or legally owed.
   - Simple: Given as a free gift or extra reward, not as something owed.

## Origin

From Latin beneficiarius ("enjoying a favor, granted a privilege"), from beneficium ("benefit"), perhaps via or influenced by French bénéficiaire. Through the roots of beneficium, it ultimately shares its origin with benefactor, its near antonym.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/beneficiary (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).