English

Alternative forms

• benefited

Verb

benefitted

1. simple past tense and past participle of benefit

Usage notes

• Of English verbs with stems ending in -fit, only those derived from fit have the standard present participle and past spelled with double "t". Verbs otherwise derived, like benefit, profit, and discomfit have present participle and past spelled with a single "t". More than 10% of the occurrences of these forms are spelled with a double "tt" in edited works in the US, fewer in the UK. Dictionaries do not recognize the double-"t" spelling, despite its persistence for at least 200 years in the US.