beneficiary

/ˈbɛnəˌfɪʃiˈɛri/

/bɛnəˈfɪʃəri/

Other forms: beneficiaries

A beneficiary is simply the recipient of money or other benefits. So when your big sister finally moves away to college and you get to move into her bigger bedroom? You become a lucky beneficiary.

In other words — if you benefit from something, you are a beneficiary. This word pops up most commonly when people are creating their wills and trusts — you have to choose beneficiaries as the people who will get what you have when you die. But it isn't always so morbid. You can be the beneficiary of someone's kindness, the beneficiary of a good education, or even the beneficiary of your own hard work.

Definitions of beneficiary

1. noun

   the recipient of funds or other benefits
   synonyms: donee

   types:

   co-beneficiary

   one of two or more beneficiaries of the same benefit

   devisee

   someone to whom property (especially realty) is devised by will

   legatee

   someone to whom a legacy is bequeathed

   pensionary, pensioner

   the beneficiary of a pension fund

   old-age pensioner

   an old person who receives an old-age pension

   type of:

   receiver, recipient

   a person who receives something
2. noun

   the semantic role of the intended recipient who benefits from the happening denoted by the verb in the clause
   synonyms: benefactive role

   type of:

   participant role, semantic role

   (linguistics) the underlying relation that a constituent has with the main verb in a clause
3. adjective

   having or arising from a benefice
   “a beneficiary baron”