17th–18th century English thieves' cant compound: 'ben' (good) plus 'mort' (woman, from cant slang). The word 'mort' itself derives from older gypsy/Romani cant. 'Ben mort' could mean a respectable woman or, in context, a desirable female accomplice in criminal circles.
The pamphleteers warned that even a ben mort could be lured into the rum-pads if poverty pressed hard enough.
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UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
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(obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) Good woman.
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