SuaviloquyToday’s word

boon

Boon, n.

Etymology: [OE. bone, boin, a petition, fr. Icel. b; akin to Sw. & Dan. b, AS. b, and perh. to E. ban; but influenced by F. bon good, fr. L. bonus. Ban, Bounty.]

1. A prayer or petition. [Obs.] For which to God he made so many an idle boon. Spenser.

2. That which is asked or granted as a benefit or favor; a gift; a benefaction; a grant; a present. Every good gift and every perfect boon is from above. James i. 17 (Rev. Ver. ).

2 other Webster entries under this spelling

Boon, a.

1. Good; prosperous; as, boon voyage. [Obs.]

2. Kind; bountiful; benign. Which . . . Nature boon Poured forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain. Milton.

3. Gay; merry; jovial; convivial. A boon companion, loving his bottle. Arbuthnot.

Boon, n.

The woody portion flax, which is separated from the fiber as refuse matter by retting, braking, and scutching.

Shades of meaning

Fernald has no entry of its own for boon; he lists it under gift.

Where he writes about it:

A boon is a gift that has been desired or craved or perhaps asked, or something freely given that meets some great desire. — from gift