A blessing or benediction; a spoken wish for good fortune or divine favor.
From Old French beneiçon, from Latin benedictio 'a blessing' (bene- 'well' + dicere 'to say'). The word literally means 'well-said' and entered English in the 13th century.
Benison is almost extinct in modern English, but it appears memorably in Shakespeare and medieval literature—it's the kind of beautiful formal word that makes you sound like you're blessing someone even as you speak.
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