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BEN (from Old Eng. bennan, within)
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BEN (from Old Eng. bennan, within), in the Scottish phrase " a but and a ben," the inner room of a house in which there is only one outer door, so that the entrance to the inner room is through the outer, the but (Old Eng. butan, without). Hence " a but and a ben " meant originally a living room and sleeping room, and so a dwelling or a cottage.