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Glite Dictionary
unbeneficed

unbeneficed

9.9
A member of the clergy who has no paid church position
  • adjective
  • /ʌnˈbɛnɪfɪst/
  • Archaic
translation icon : sin beneficio
  • Many unbeneficed priests struggled to make ends meet without the support of a benefice.

Examples

  • In the small town, the unbeneficed minister offered guidance and services without a formal position.

  • However, in many cases—and increasingly as the seventeenth century progressed—foundations were used to support local unbeneficed clergy.85

    Academic text (2018)

  • The church organized a charity fundraiser to assist the needs of unbeneficed clergy.

Antonyms

beneficed
  • Formal
9.9

A priest or minister who has a paid church job that gives them income

Surface Forms

unbeneficed positive

Morphology

unbeneficed = beneficed (transparent) = un + benefice + ed

The adjective is formed by regular negation (un-) of 'beneficed', which itself is the adjectival/past-participle form of 'benefice', so the negation is semantically compositional.

Etymology

Unbeneficed breaks into un- 'not' and benefice, a church office that gave money or support and is the same root as the everyday word benefit. So an unbeneficed clergyman is 'not holding' that paid church job.