Definition & Meaning of "beneficiary"

What is a "beneficiary"?

In linguistics, a beneficiary refers to the entity that receives a benefit or advantage from an action described by a verb. This role highlights who is helped or positively affected by the action. For example, in the sentence "She baked a cake for her friend," "her friend" is the beneficiary because the friend is the one who receives the cake. Understanding the role of the beneficiary is important for analyzing sentence structure and clarifying how different elements interact to convey meaning, especially in contexts where an action is performed for the benefit of someone else.