ben

Meanings

Noun

• A prayer; a petition.
• Ben-room: The inner room of a two-room hut or shack (as opposed to the but).
• A tree, Moringa oleifera or horseradish tree of Arabia and India, which produces oil of ben.
• The winged seed of the ben tree.
• The oil of the ben seed.
• Son of (used with Hebrew and Arabic surnames).
• A Scottish or Irish mountain or high peak.
• A benefit .

Adverb

• Inside.

Adjective

• Inner, interior.
• Alternate spelling of bene; good.

Related

Similar words

• drumstick tree, horseradish tree, moringa

Origin

• From Middle English ben, bene, from Old English bēn ("prayer, request, favor, compulsory service"), from Proto-Germanic *bōniz ("supplication"), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- ("to say"). Related to ban. More at boon.
• From Middle English ben, bene, variation of bin, binne, from Old English binnan ("within, in, inside of, into"), equivalent to be- + in.
• From Middle English been, from Old French and Medieval Latin, probably from a North African pronunciation of Arabic بَان ("ben tree")
• From Arabic بِن and Hebrew בן ("son").
• Borrowed from Scots ben, benn, from Scottish Gaelic beinn
• UK C16. Probably from Latin bene or Italian bene.
• Shortening.