Benison

benison  \BEN-uh-sun\ noun

: blessing, benediction

antonym malediction \mal-uh-DIK-shun\ noun

: curse, execration

 Usage:
The candidate sought the benison of the popular pastor in the hope of gaining both spiritual and political support.

“On warm(ish) days, the soft rain feels like a benison, pattering gently on fallen leaves and stirring up earthy scents that remind me more of spring than autumn.” — From an article by Ann Lovejoy in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, December 4, 2008

antonym:
The two old women began casting aspersions and heaping maledictions upon one another.

“Benison” and its synonym “benediction” share more than a common meaning; the two words come from the same root, the Latin “benedicere,” meaning “to bless.” (“Benedicere” comes from the Latin “bene dicere”—”to speak well of”—a combination of the Latin “bene,” meaning “well,” and “dicere,” to say.) Of the two words, “benediction” is more common today, but “benison” has a longer history in English. Records show that “benison” has been used in our language since the early 14th century. “Benediction” didn’t appear in print until nearly a century later.

antonym:
“Malediction,” which at one time could also refer to slander or to the condition of being reviled or slandered, derives (via Middle English and Late Latin) from the Latin verb “maledicere,” meaning “to speak evil of” or “to curse.” “Maledicere,” in turn, was formed by combining the Latin words “male,” meaning “badly,” and “dicere,” “to speak” or “to say.” You may recognize both of those component parts, as each has made a significant contribution to the English language. “Male” is the ancestor of such words as “malady,” “malevolent,” and “malign”; “dicere” gives us “contradict,” “dictate,” “diction,” “edict” and “prediction.”

Entry in Webster's Dictionary

Colors