Green’s Dictionary of Slang

a married man, esp. a newly married man or a formerly confirmed bachelor who changes his mind.

[1599		Shakespeare Much Ado About Nothing V iv: How dost thou, Benedick, the married man?].
1793		Sporting Mag. July II 232/1: You must expect to hear again from [...] your sporting friend and constant reader Benedict the married man.
1794		Sporting Mag. June IV 160/2: The lady resolutely claimed him as her lawful husband. The forlorn Benedict immediately took a post-chaise, and set out for London.
1805		C.K. Sharpe letter 18 Nov. Correspondence (1888) I 239: From what I have seen of his lordship, both as a bachelor and as a benedick, I should think that he is very little alter’d by the change.
1821		W. Scott letter 21 Apr. in Lockhart Life (1896) 447/2: Wish the veteran joy of his entrance into the band of benedicts .
1830		Lytton Paul Clifford I 267: We wanderers are not allowed the same boast as the more fortunate Benedicts; we send our hearts in search of a home, and we lose the one without gaining the other.
1832		Spirit of the Times (NY) 11 Feb. 2/3: It is greatly to be feared that some of our Benedicts were deeply smitten [i.e. by women not their wives].
1843		Life in the West cited in Ogilvie Imperial Dict. (1883) 256: He is no longer a benedick, but a quiet married man.
1846		Bell’s Life in Sydney 4 July 3/2: He being a young benedict unfettered with other offspring.
1859		G.A. Sala Twice Round the Clock 114: The hunchback Scarron found himself a beautiful woman to love and nurse him; and General Tom Thumb turned benedict the other day.
1865		‘Mr Carlisle’ Stray Leaves 2: I am not a bachelor, but a happy benedict with six children.
1868		Belfast Morn. News 8 June 4/4: An Unhappy Benedict. [...] ‘I wish to inform Your Worship that I have been married three months.’ Mr Arnold— ‘Well, I hope you are happy.’ [...] ‘No, sir, [...] My wife has left me’.
1871		Fife Herald 18 May 2/2: An Unhappy Benedict. ‘I do not care if I am sent to prison; my beautiful wife will be well pleased’.
1879		Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 29 Nov. 10/4: [headline] a bridal chamber drama / The Scene That Startled a Benedict on His Return to the Side of His Newly Made Bride.
1879		H. Hartigan Stray Leaves (2nd ser.) 73: ‘Benedict the married man’.
1882		Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 25 Feb. 10/3: After living two years as a Benedict, La Monte [...] kicks against the matrimonial harness.
1885		Bulletin (Sydney) 18 Apr. 22/4: This is his statement:– ‘Matrimony. A plain young man is anxious to meet with a young woman with view to above.’ Was ever anything more genuine? […] Usually there is a postscript, inspired by the spirit of the elder Weller, to the effect that widows have no favour in the eyes of this would-be Benedict.
1886		M.E. Kennard Girl in the Brown Habit I 5: A fellow may as well have a bit of a fling first, till he spots the right figure, and is prepared to settle down as a Benedict.
1890		Bulletin (Sydney) 26 July 12/4: A widower rushed to the man of kin. ‘Any children?’ asked he. ‘No,’ replied the would-be Benedict; ‘but if you make us one I will have seven to-morrow.’.
1900		Bulletin (Sydney) 24 Mar. 24/1: By this time, however, the boss had come to hear of these amorous dallyings, and he despatched a messenger with a note to the new Benedict, advising him, probably, to restrain his feelings or let the blinds down.
1903		St Louis Post-Dispatch (MO) 8 Feb. 17/1: Shaw [...] charged Desmond with ‘having lately becomne a benedict’.
1912		Sport (Adelaide) 7 Sept. 14/2: They Say [...] That Vasco has joined the benedicts, but kept it awfully quiet.
1915		O.O. McIntyre Day By Day in New York 3 Mar. [synd. col.] Mike Donlin, the recent benedict, and his young bride are seen dancing nightly.
1927		‘J.M. Hall’ Anecdota Americana I 163: [...] a stranger, whom the benedict engaged in conversation while the bride was washing.
1935		E. Freeman ‘The Whirling Hub’ in Afro-American (Baltimore, MD) 22 June 15/3: The popular pill dispenser is reported to be a member of the ranks of benedicts.
1950		‘Josephine Tey’ To Love and Be Wise 236: ‘She’ll wait up for me so that she can ask me what Marta Hallard was wearing,’ said Williams, the Benedict.