benjamin
/ˈbɛnd͡ʒəmɪn/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.16 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A balsamic resin from the bark of Styrax trees used in perfumes, incense, and medicine; benzoin resin.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A type of tree which produces benzoin or has similar properties; specifically, Styrax benzoin, Lindera benzoin; a Benjamin bush.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "something which is not long enough to constitute a benjamin, and too long for a dress coat or spencer"
- "How the young man from Cambridge sulkily put his five great-coats in front; but was reconciled when little Miss Sharp was made to quit the carriage, and mount up beside him—when he covered her up in one of his Benjamins, and became perfectly good-humoured—"
- "And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin."
- "What about the youngest child - the Benjamin - the child of its parents' mature strength and charity, always better treated than the unfortunate eldest children of their youthful ignorance and wilfulness?"
- ""Well, who the hell ever thinks some boy with a name like Benjamin is going to kill someone?" I said. "It's like someone named Winnie the Pooh taking hostages!""
- "For it would surely improve the domestic standing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an unbudgeable hawk, and thereby indefinitely delay peace on that Middle Eastern front."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: Benjamin, Βενιαμίν, בִּנְיָמִין
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈbɛnd͡ʒəmɪn/
- British English: /ˈbɛnd͡ʒəmɪn/
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in People.