beneficiary

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A person who gains an advantage or benefit from something.

   Students are the main beneficiaries of the new free transport scheme.

2. 2
   noun

   A person who receives money or property from a will, trust, or insurance policy.

   She named her two children as the beneficiaries of her life insurance.

From Latin beneficiarius (“enjoying a favor, granted a privilege”) from beneficium (“benefit”), perhaps via or influenced by French bénéficiaire (“beneficiary”). Indirectly, by way of the etymology of the Latin word beneficium, the English word beneficiary ultimately has the same origin as the English word benefactor, its near antonym.

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