benign

English

Etymology

From Middle English benigne, benygne, from Old French benigne, from Latin benignus (“kind, good”), from bene (“well”) + genus (“origin, kind”). Compare malign.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɪˈnaɪn/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪn

Adjective

benign (comparative benigner or more benign, superlative benignest or most benign)

1. Kind; gentle; mild.
   • 1826, [Mary Shelley], chapter IX, in The Last Man. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC:

     But though we both entertained these ideas, we differed in their application. Resentment added also a sting to my censure; and I reprobated Raymond's conduct in severe terms. Adrian was more benign, more considerate.

   • 1982 December 18, Nancy Walker, “Doodle, Turkey and Pumpkin”, in Gay Community News, volume 10, number 22, page 6:

     I people my world with benign spirits. Everything talks to me and I respond to it.

2. (of a climate or environment) mild and favorable
3. (in combination) Not harmful to the environment.

   an ozone-benign refrigerant

4. (medicine) Not posing any serious threat to health; not particularly aggressive or recurrent.

   Synonym: non-malignant

   Antonym: malignant

   a benign tumor

   • 2025 August 14, Angela Haupt, “What to Know About the Horned ‘Zombie’ Rabbits Hopping Around Colorado”, in TIME‎:

     Despite the gruesome way it looks, cottontail rabbit papillomavirus is often benign, and many rabbits end up fighting it off on their own.

Antonyms

• malign

Derived terms

• benignancy
• benignant
• benignity
• benignly
• benign neglect
• benignness
• benign paroxysmal positional vertigo
• benign prostate enlargement
• benign prostatic hyperplasia
• nonbenign
• unbenign

Translations

kind, gentle, mild

Arabic: كَرِيم (karīm), لَطِيف (ar) (laṭīf) Bulgarian: до́бър (bg) (dóbǎr), благ (bg) (blag), прия́тен (bg) (prijáten), мил (bg) (mil), любе́зен (bg) (ljubézen) Catalan: benigne (ca) Czech: laskavý (cs), vlídný (cs), dobrotivý Dutch: goedaardig (nl) French: bénin (fr) Georgian: კეთილშობილი (ḳetilšobili) German: freundlich (de), gütig (de), liebevoll (de) Greek: αγαθός (el) m (agathós), καλοκάγαθος (el) m (kalokágathos) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: xweşmirov (ku), camêr (ku), qenc (ku) Latin: benignus Maori: māhaki Middle English: benigne Polish: łagodny (pl) Portuguese: benigno (pt) Romanian: blând (ro) Russian: до́брый (ru) (dóbryj) (kind), любе́зный (ru) (ljubéznyj) (amiable), мя́гкий (ru) (mjáxkij) (mild, e.g. of measures), прия́тный (ru) (prijátnyj) (pleasant), благоприя́тный (ru) (blagoprijátnyj) (favorable) Slovak: mierny, prívetivý Spanish: benigno (es) Turkmen: tultuk

(medicine) not posing any serious threat to health — see also malignant

Armenian: բարորակ (hy) (barorak) Azerbaijani: zərərsiz, xətərsiz Bulgarian: доброка́чествен (bg) (dobrokáčestven) Catalan: benigne (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Czech: nezhoubný m, benigní (cs), neškodný (cs) Dutch: goedaardig (nl) Esperanto: benigna (eo) Finnish: hyvänlaatuinen (fi) French: bénin (fr) Georgian: კეთილთვისებიანი (ḳetiltvisebiani) German: gutartig (de) Greek: καλοήθης (el) m or f (kaloḯthis) Hungarian: jóindulatú (hu) Italian: benigno (it) Lithuanian: gerybinis Macedonian: доброќуден (dobroḱuden) Maori: ngū Norwegian: Bokmål: godartet Nynorsk: godarta Persian: خوش‌خیم (xoš-xim) Polish: łagodny (pl), nieszkodliwy (pl) Portuguese: benigno (pt) Romanian: benign (ro) (med.) Russian: доброка́чественный (ru) (dobrokáčestvennyj) (of good quality) Slovak: nezhubný Spanish: benigno (es) Swedish: godartad (sv), benign (sv) Thai: please add this translation if you can Turkmen: zyýansyz (tk) Ukrainian: доброя́кісний (dobrojákisnyj)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Ido: (please verify) benigna (io) Romanian: (please verify) benign (ro) Swedish: (please verify) godartad (sv)

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin benignus or French bénin.

Adjective

benign m or n (feminine singular benignă, masculine plural benigni, feminine and neuter plural benigne)

1. (medicine) benign

Declension

Declension of benign

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	benign		benignă		benigni	benigne
	definite	benignul		benigna		benignii	benignele
genitive- dative	indefinite	benign		benigne		benigni	benigne
	definite	benignului		benignei		benignilor	benignelor

Swedish

Adjective

benign (not comparable)

1. (medicine) benign

   Synonym: godartad

   Antonyms: malign, elakartad

Declension

Inflection of benign

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	benign	—	—
neuter singular	benignt	—	—
plural	benigna	—	—
masculine plural2	benigne	—	—
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	benigne	—	—
all	benigna	—	—

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

References

• benign in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• benign in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)