Benefice

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

benefice
    n 1: an endowed church office giving income to its holder [syn:
         {benefice}, {ecclesiastical benefice}]
    v 1: endow with a benefice

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Benefice \Ben"e*fice\, n. [F. b['e]n['e]fice, L. beneficium, a
   kindness, in LL. a grant of an estate, fr. L. beneficus
   beneficent; bene well + facere to do. See {Benefit}.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. A favor or benefit. [Obs.] --Baxter.
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   2. (Feudal Law) An estate in lands; a fief.
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   Note: Such an estate was granted at first for life only, and
         held on the mere good pleasure of the donor; but
         afterward, becoming hereditary, it received the
         appellation of fief, and the term benefice became
         appropriated to church livings.
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   3. An ecclesiastical living and church preferment, as in the
      Church of England; a church endowed with a revenue for the
      maintenance of divine service. See {Advowson}.
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   Note: All church preferments are called benefices, except
         bishoprics, which are called dignities. But,
         ordinarily, the term dignity is applied to bishoprics,
         deaneries, archdeaconries, and prebendaryships;
         benefice to parsonages, vicarages, and donatives.
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from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Benefice \Ben"e*fice\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Beneficed}.]
   To endow with a benefice.

   Note: [Commonly in the past participle.]
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from Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)

BENEFICE, eccles. law. In its most extended sense, any ecclesiastical 
preferment or dignity; but in its more limited sense, it is applied only to 
rectories and vicarages.