Definition of "benefaction" [ben•e•fac•tion]

• The act of conferring aid of some sort. (noun)
• A charitable gift or deed. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Half her time was spent at spillikins, which I consider as a very valuable part of our household furniture, and as not the least important benefaction from the family of Knight to that of Austen."
• "As I learned in writing Virtue, Valor, and Vanity: The Founding Fathers and the Pursuit of Fame, Alexander Hamilton was no less ambitious than Ryan Seacrest -- but to Hamilton and the other founders, fame was different then from what it is now, attainable only through civic benefaction, which is to say, only through taking steps to make life better for others."
• "I do not think there is anything insurmountably difficult or impossible about getting men to understand one or two simple propositions which they do not understand now, that is, the benefaction to any community of the recognized money-maker."