boniface

noun

bon·​i·​face ˈbä-nə-fəs 

-ˌfās

: the proprietor of a hotel, nightclub, or restaurant

Did you know?

Boniface has been the name of eight popes, one antipope, and one saint, but none of those had anything (directly) to do with the English word boniface. The word boniface comes from the name of the jovial innkeeper in George Farquhar's 1707 play The Beaux' Strategem, the story of two penniless rakes who determine that one of them must find and marry a wealthy lady. Farquhar's play made more than one contribution to the English language. The name of the character Lady Bountiful is a byword for a generous (and often conspicuously so) philanthropist. Farquhar, incidentally, never got to see the influence his play had on the lexicon. He finished The Beaux' Strategem on his deathbed, and died on the night of its third performance.

Synonyms of boniface

• taverner
• landlord

Examples of boniface in a Sentence

the operator of the inn is the very epitome of the genial and gracious boniface

Word History

Etymology

Boniface, innkeeper in The Beaux' Stratagem (1707) by George Farquhar

First Known Use

1742, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for boniface

• aerospace
• anatase
• anyplace
• commonplace
• cyberspace
• database
• diabase
• diastase
• dnase
• elastase
• fireplace
• hyperspace

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!

Biographical Definition

Boniface 1 of 2

biographical name (1)

Bon·​i·​face ˈbä-nə-fəs 

-ˌfās

Saint circa 675–754 Wynfrid or Wynfrith English missionary in Germany

Boniface

2 of 2

biographical name (2)

name of 9 popes: especially VIII (Benedict Caetani) circa 1235(or 1240)–1303 (pope 1294–1303)