a. [f. L. beneficentia: see prec. + -AL.] Of or pertaining to beneficence; concerned with what is most beneficial to mankind.
1869. J. Morley, in Fortn. Rev., May, 533. The beneficential moralist esteems this a particularly virtuous type, because it is particularly conducive to the greatest happiness of the greatest number. Ibid., 538. The central principle of the utilitarian or beneficential ethics.
