bénine

Bénine is a form that appears in some contexts but is not standard in contemporary French. The word is most often encountered as a misspelling or obsolete variant of the French adjectives bénin or bénigne.

In medical terminology, bénin is used to describe non-malignant conditions, as in tumeur bénigne. The feminine form is bénigne; the masculine form is bénin; the plural forms are bénins or bénignes. The spelling bénine does not appear in standard dictionaries for the feminine form.

Geography and demonyms clarify further usage. The country of Benin is written Bénin in French; residents are Béninois (masc.) and Béninoise (fem.). The form bénine is not used to denote a person from Benin and does not function as a recognized demonym.

Other uses and etymology show the roots of the term. Bénin derives from Latin benignus, through Old French, carrying senses of kindness and harmlessness. The existence of bénine is largely limited to historical or erroneous variants and is not part of standard contemporary French.

In summary, bénine is not a standard French word for benign (the correct feminine is bénigne) and is not the correct demonym for Benin. Its appearance is generally explained by misspelling or historical usage rather than current usage.