The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Benevolence \Be*nev"o*lence\, n. [OF. benevolence, L.
   benevolentia. See Benevolent.]
   1. The disposition to do good; good will; charitableness;
      love of mankind, accompanied with a desire to promote
      their happiness.
      [1913 Webster]

            The wakeful benevolence of the gospel. --Chalmers.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. An act of kindness; good done; charity given.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. A species of compulsory contribution or tax, which has
      sometimes been illegally exacted by arbitrary kings of
      England, and falsely represented as a gratuity.
      [1913 Webster]

   Syn: Benevolence, Beneficence, Munificence.

   Usage: Benevolence marks a disposition made up of a choice
          and desire for the happiness of others. Beneficence
          marks the working of this disposition in dispensing
          good on a somewhat broad scale. Munificence shows the
          same disposition, but acting on a still broader scale,
          in conferring gifts and favors. These are not
          necessarily confined to objects of immediate utility.
          One may show his munificence in presents of pictures
          or jewelry, but this would not be beneficence.
          Benevolence of heart; beneficence of life; munificence
          in the encouragement of letters.
          [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

benevolence
    n 1: disposition to do good [ant: malevolence, malignity]
    2: an inclination to do kind or charitable acts
    3: an act intending or showing kindness and good will [syn:
       benevolence, benefaction]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

150 Moby Thesaurus words for "benevolence":
   BOMFOG, Benthamism, Christian charity, Christian love,
   accommodatingness, act of grace, act of kindness, advantageousness,
   affability, agape, agreeableness, altruism, amiability, amity,
   auspiciousness, benefaction, beneficence, beneficialness, benefit,
   benevolent disposition, benevolentness, benignancy, benignity,
   bigheartedness, blessing, boon, brightness, brotherly love,
   caritas, charitableness, charity, cheerfulness, cheeriness, class,
   clemency, cogency, comity, commiseration, compassion, complaisance,
   compliance, compliment, condolence, condonation, contribution,
   courtesy, decency, desert, disregard, do-goodism, donation,
   excellence, expedience, fairness, favor, favorableness, feeling,
   fineness, first-rateness, flower power, forbearance, forgiveness,
   forgivingness, fortunateness, friendliness, friendship, generosity,
   generousness, gift, giving, good auspices, good deed, good offices,
   good omen, good turn, goodliness, goodness, goodwill, grace,
   graciosity, graciousness, grant, greatheartedness, healthiness,
   helpfulness, humanitarianism, humanity, indulgence, kind deed,
   kind offices, kindliness, kindly act, kindness, labor of love,
   largeheartedness, largess, leniency, long-suffering, longanimity,
   love, love of mankind, luckiness, magnanimity, manna, mercy, merit,
   mitigation, mitzvah, niceness, obligation, obligingness, office,
   overlooking, pardon, pathos, patience, philanthropism,
   philanthropy, pity, pleasantness, present, profitableness,
   propitiousness, prosperousness, quality, quarter, relief, reprieve,
   rewardingness, ruth, self-pity, service, skillfulness, soundness,
   superiority, sympathy, tolerance, turn, unrevengefulness,
   unselfishness, usefulness, utilitarianism, validity, value, virtue,
   virtuousness, welfarism, well-disposedness, wholeness, worth



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

BENEVOLENCE, duty. The doing a kind action to another, from mere good will,
without any legal obligation. It is a moral duty only, and it cannot be
enforced by law. A good wan is benevolent to the poor, but no law can compel
him to be so.



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

BENEVOLENCE, English law. An aid given by the subjects to the king under a
pretended gratuity, but in realty it was an extortion and imposition.