benefice

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an endowed church office or living that provides income to its holder

   The bishop appointed the priest to a rural benefice with a modest income.

From Old French benefice, from Latin beneficium ("favor, service, benefit"), formed from bene ("well") + facere ("to do"). In medieval church administration, the word narrowed to an endowed office or property that supplied a cleric's income.

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