What does benjamin mean?
In modern American English, "benjamin" is an informal term for a one-hundred-dollar bill, named after Benjamin Franklin, whose portrait appears on the note rather than that of a president. Used mostly in casual speech, it appears in phrases like "a crisp benjamin" or "peeling off a few benjamins," and its plural is typically "benjamins." The term carries a connotation of ready cash and sometimes of flash or streetwise money handling, making it common in music and colloquial conversation but unsuitable for formal writing. The word has older lives as well: in the nineteenth century a "benjamin" was a soft woolen or worsted fabric used for coats and linings, and in still earlier English it served as a variant of "benzoin," a fragrant balsamic resin. Today only the currency sense remains current, though it is distinctly slangy and regionally tied to the United States.
(US slang) A one-hundred-dollar banknote.
"She tucked a benjamin into the tip jar."
Informal; plural commonly 'benjamins.'
(historical) A soft woolen or worsted fabric used chiefly for coats and linings.
"The tailor recommended benjamin for the coat's lining."
Obsolete except in historical texts.
Applies primarily to the slang sense referring to hundred-dollar bills.
"He counted out five benjamins without blinking."
The $100 bill carries no president at all — just Benjamin Franklin, whose face turned the note into slang: the 'benjamin.'
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of benjamin
As a name for the $100 bill, "benjamin" derives simply from Benjamin Franklin's image on the note, following the pattern of slang terms built on portraits found on currency. Separately, the word entered English centuries earlier through the Hebrew personal name Benyamin, meaning "son of the right hand" or "son of the south." In older commercial usage, "benjamin" also functioned as a corruption of "benzoin," a resin imported to Europe via Arabic trade routes, and it later named a soft woolen cloth. These strands share little beyond spelling; the modern slang sense is an independent coinage of twentieth-century American usage.
How benjamin is actually used
The currency sense is casual American slang and would be out of place in formal writing; the plural is usually 'benjamins.' The textile sense is historical and largely obsolete, encountered mainly in period literature.
Easily confused with benjamin
Benzoin is a fragrant balsamic resin (once called 'benjamin' in older English), whereas the modern informal 'benjamin' refers to a hundred-dollar bill.