reward
UK /ɹɪˈwɔːd/ · US /ɹɪˈwɔɹd/ noun, verb
Forms rewards rewarding rewarded
- noun Something of value given in return for an act. “For catching the thief, you'll get a nice reward.”
- noun A prize promised for a certain deed or catch “The rewards for bringing in badly wanted criminals are printed on 'dead or alive' posters.”
- noun (Christianity, with possessive pronoun) one's place in heaven; God's judgment in the afterlife; death
- noun The result of an action, whether good or bad. “Is this the reward I get for telling the truth: to be put in jail?”
- verb (transitive) To give a reward to or for. “Why are you rewarding the child for misbehaving?”
- verb (transitive) To be a recompense for. “Decorations are meant to reward the most meritous acts and services.”
- verb (obsolete, transitive) To give (something) as a reward.
Synonyms
payment recompense tithing meed bounty consequence acknowledgment guerdon payback reguerdon remuneration wages payoff reinforcement advantage honor honour reinforce repay pay back
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English reward, rewarde, from Old French reward (“reward”) (compare Old French regard, whence modern French regard, and also English regard through Middle French), from rewarder (“to reward”) (compare Old French reguarder), from re- + warder (“to guard, keep”) (compare Old French guarder); the Anglo-Norman forms are derived from Old Northern French variants of Old French, ultimately of Germanic (Frankish) origin. Compare regard, warden, guard. See more below.
Mostly displaced Old English mēd, whence Modern English meed. Displaced Old English lēan and edlēan.
From Middle English rewarden, from Anglo-Norman rewarder (“to reward”), from re- + warder (“to guard, keep”), from Old Northern French [Term?], from Frankish *wardōn (“to guard, keep”), from Proto-Germanic *wardōną (“to guard, defend”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to cover, shelter, defend, guard, shut”). Cognate with Old Saxon wardōn (“to guard, provide for, protect”), Old English weardian (“to guard”), Old High German wartēn (“to watch, keep, look after”). More at ward. Piecewise doublet of regard.
Displaced Old English lēanian. In this sense, displaced Old English ġieldan, whence Modern English yield.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To give in return, whether good or evil; --commonly in a good sense; to requite; to recompense; to repay; to compensate.
- noun Regard; respect; consideration. [Obs.]
- noun That which is given in return for good or evil done or received; esp., that which is offered or given in return for some service or attainment, as for excellence in studies, for the return of something lost, etc.; recompense; requital.
Etymology [OF. rewarder, another form of regarder, of German origin. The original sense is, to look at, regard, hence, to regard as worthy, give a reward to. See Ward, Regard.]
Etymology [See Reward, v., and cf. Regard, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “reward”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details