beneficiary

noun

ben·​e·​fi·​cia·​ry ˌbe-nə-ˈfi-shē-ˌer-ē How to pronounce beneficiary (audio)
-e-rē,
-ˈfi-sh(ə-)rē How to pronounce beneficiary (audio)
plural beneficiaries
1
: a person or thing that receives help or an advantage from something : one that benefits from something
the main beneficiaries of these economic reforms
2
a
law : the person designated to receive the income of an estate that is subject to a trust (see trust entry 1 sense 3a)
b
: the person named (as in an insurance policy) to receive proceeds or benefits (see benefit entry 1 sense 2b)
named his brother as the sole beneficiary of his life insurance policy

Did you know?

Beneficiary is often used in connection with life insurance, but it shows up in many other contexts as well. A college may be the beneficiary of a private donation. Your uncle's will may make a church his sole beneficiary, in which case all his money and property will go to it when he dies. A "third-party beneficiary" of a contract is a person (often a child) who the people signing the contract (which is usually an insurance policy or an employee-benefit plan) want to benefit from it. In a more general way, a small business may be a beneficiary of changes to the tax code, or a restaurant may be the beneficiary when the one across the street closes down and its whole lunch crowd starts coming in.

Examples of beneficiary in a Sentence

The college was a beneficiary of the private grant.
Recent Examples on the Web In recent years, California has been the beneficiary of a worldwide soundstage construction boom triggered by the streaming wars and buttressed locally by the state’s 4% tax credit established in 2021 for productions shooting on new or renovated qualified soundstages. Todd Longwell, Variety, 7 Mar. 2024 Nvidia has been the biggest beneficiary of the AI boom. Krystal Hur, CNN, 7 Mar. 2024 Money raised for beneficiaries outside of the 19 countries must be transferred to the creator of the fundraiser and then passed on to beneficiaries off of the platform. Mia Sato, The Verge, 29 Feb. 2024 Lincoln County has been the beneficiary of rapid population and business growth. Charlotte Observer, 29 Feb. 2024 Since then, countries including India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Senegal have all been beneficiaries of JETPs. Amy Nguyen, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2024 Disney was the biggest beneficiary in this round of incentives, with titles from the entertainment giant conditionally receiving $28.1 million to shoot in the state. Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Feb. 2024 This many elderly beneficiaries like my father without crucial assistance in affording premiums and cost-sharing for outpatient care. Mariela Torres Cintrón, STAT, 21 Feb. 2024 Commercial bribery occurs when a person, typically an employee, without consent of the beneficiary, intentionally accepts or agrees to accept any benefit from another person on the understanding that the benefit will influence the conduct between the two, according to the law. Nicole Lopez, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'beneficiary.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

see benefice

First Known Use

1627, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of beneficiary was in 1627

Dictionary Entries Near beneficiary

Cite this Entry

“Beneficiary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beneficiary. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

beneficiary

noun
ben·​e·​fi·​ci·​ary
ˌben-ə-ˈfish-ē-ˌer-ē,
-ˈfish-(ə-)rē
plural beneficiaries
: a person who benefits or is expected to benefit from something
the beneficiary of life insurance

Legal Definition

beneficiary

noun
ben·​e·​fi·​cia·​ry ˌbe-nə-ˈfi-shē-ˌer-ē, -ˈfi-shə-rē How to pronounce beneficiary (audio)
plural beneficiaries
: a person or entity (as a charity or estate) that receives a benefit from something (as a will or other instrument or legal agreement): as
a
: the person or entity named or otherwise entitled to receive the principal or income or both from a trust compare settlor, trustee
contingent beneficiary
: a beneficiary that may receive proceeds from a trust depending on the occurrence of a specified event (as the death of another beneficiary)
income beneficiary
: a beneficiary that according to the provisions of a trust is to receive income but not the principal of the trust

Note: A trust may provide for income to be paid to someone (as a spouse) for his or her lifetime and then for payment of the principal to another person. A trustee is sometimes allowed to distribute some of the principal of the trust to an income beneficiary when necessary for the support of the beneficiary if support of the beneficiary was the purpose of the trust.

b
: the person or entity named by the insured of a life insurance policy to receive the proceeds upon the insured's death
contingent beneficiary
: a beneficiary named to receive the insurance proceeds if the primary beneficiary has died

called also secondary beneficiary

primary beneficiary \ ˈprī-​ˌmer-​ē-​, -​mə-​rē-​ \
: a beneficiary named to receive the insurance proceeds before any other
secondary beneficiary \ ˈsek-​ən-​ˌder-​ē-​ \
: contingent beneficiary in this entry
c
: a person or entity entitled under a letter of credit to demand payment from the issuer of the letter
d
: a person or entity that benefits from a promise, agreement, or contract
especially : third-party beneficiary in this entry
the contractual beneficiaries…are mortgagees and investors Key Pac. Mortg. Inc. v. Industrial Indem. Co., 845 P.2d 1087 (1993)
creditor beneficiary
: a direct beneficiary whom the party paying for the other party's performance intends to benefit as payment for a debt or obligation compare donee beneficiary in this entry
direct beneficiary
: a third-party beneficiary to a contract whom the parties to the contract intended to benefit compare incidental beneficiary in this entry
donee beneficiary
: a direct beneficiary whom the party paying for the other party's performance intends to benefit as a gift or donation
incidental beneficiary
: a third-party beneficiary to a contract whom the parties to the contract did not intend to benefit compare direct beneficiary in this entry
third-party beneficiary
: a person or entity that is not a party to but has rights under a contract made by two other parties
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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