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What is the difference between advantage and benefit?

advantage | benefit |

Benefit is a synonym of advantage.



In obsolete terms the difference between advantage and benefit

is that advantage is superiority; mastery; — used with of to specify its nature or with over to specify the other party while benefit is beneficence; liberality.

In transitive terms the difference between advantage and benefit

is that advantage is to provide (someone) with an advantage, to give an edge to while benefit is to be or to provide a benefit to.

advantage

English

Alternative forms

* advauntage (obsolete)

Noun

(en noun)
  • Any condition, circumstance, opportunity or means, particularly favorable to success, or to any desired end.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author= Ed Pilkington
  • , volume=188, issue=26, page=6, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= ‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told , passage=In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.}}
  • * Shakespeare
  • Give me advantage of some brief discourse.
  • * Macaulay
  • the advantages of a close alliance
  • (obsolete) Superiority; mastery; — used with of to specify its nature or with over to specify the other party.
  • * Bible, 2 Corinthians ii. 11
  • Lest Satan should get an advantage of us.
  • Superiority of state, or that which gives it; benefit; gain; profit; as, the advantage of a good constitution.
  • (tennis) The score where one player wins a point after deuce but needs the next too to carry the game.
  • (soccer) The continuation of the game after a foul against the attacking team, because the attacking team are in a advantageous position.
  • * November 17 2012 , BBC Sport: Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham
  • Webb played an advantage that enabled Cazorla to supply a low cross from the left for Giroud to sweep home first time, despite Gallas and Vertonghen being in close attendance.
  • Interest of money; increase; overplus (as the thirteenth in the baker's dozen).
  • * Shakespeare
  • And with advantage means to pay thy love.

    Synonyms

    * foredeal, benefit, value, edge * vantage

    Antonyms

    * disadvantage, drawback

    Derived terms

    * advantage ground * advantageous * advantageously * advantageousness * have the advantage * take advantage

    Verb

    (advantag)
  • To provide (someone) with an advantage, to give an edge to.
  • (reflexive) To do something for one's own benefit; to take advantage of.
  • *, II.7:
  • No man of courage vouchsafeth to advantage himselfe of that which is common unto many.

    Usage notes

    * Some authorities object to the use of advantage as a verb meaning "to provide with an advantage".

    Synonyms

    * favor, favorise * benefit

    Derived terms

    * advantageable

    References

    * ----

    benefit

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An advantage, help, sake or aid from something.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=When this conversation was repeated in detail within the hearing of the young woman in question, and undoubtedly for his benefit , Mr. Trevor threw shame to the winds and scandalized the Misses Brewster then and there by proclaiming his father to have been a country storekeeper.}}
  • A payment made in accordance with an insurance policy or a public assistance scheme.
  • A performance, etc, given to raise funds for some cause.
  • (obsolete) beneficence; liberality
  • Derived terms

    * beneficial * benefiter

    Synonyms

    * (advantage, help ): foredeal, advantage, aid, assistance, boon, help * (payment ): subsidy

    Antonyms

    * (advantage, help ): disadvantage, encumbrance, hindrance, nuisance, obstacle, detriment

    See also

    * lagniappe

    Verb

  • To be or to provide a benefit to.
  • * Bible, Jer. xviii. 10
  • I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
  • To receive a benefit (from); to be a beneficiary.
  • Usage notes

    * Benefiting and benefited are more common, with benefitting and benefitted being a minor variant especially in the US.

    Synonyms

    * help, batten

    Antonyms

    * malefic * detriment

    Derived terms

    (terms derived from "benefit") * benefit association * benefit dollar * benefit in kind * benefit of clergy * benefit principle * benefit society * benefit-cost analysis * benefit-cost ratio * benefits coordinator * bennies * cafeteria benefit * child tax benefit * core benefit * cost-benefit analysis * death benefit * elective benefit * employee benefit * equivalent annual benefit * family benefit * friend with benefits * fringe benefit * income-related benefit * injury benefit * maternity benefit * means-tested benefit * nonstatutory fringe benefit * nonwage benefit * private benefit * risk-benefit * sickness benefit * state benefit * stranded benefit * supplementary benefit * survivor benefit * unemployment benefit * variable death benefit *