a Church office yielding an income to its holder, or the revenue or property attached to that office
the pay and position of a Christian priest who is in charge of a parish (beneficium, from , , from beneficus , from bene + facere ). System of land tenure first used by the Franks during the 8th century. A Frankish lord leased an estate to a freeman in beneficium (Latin: "for the benefit (of the tenant)"), normally until the death of the lord or tenant, though tenants often succeeded in turning benefices into hereditary holdings. By the 12th century benefice was dying out as a term for land tenure; instead it referred to a church office that carried with it the right of receiving income. A lord or bishop chose a priest, who was granted the benefice in return for the performance of spiritual duties
An ecclesiastical foundation, such as a parish, diocese, or abbey, which carries with it an income for the benefice holder
An ecclesiastical living and church preferment, as in the Church of England; a church endowed with a revenue for the maintenance of divine service