reward
[ri-wawrd]
- a sum of money offered for the detection or capture of a criminal, the recovery of lost or stolen property, etc.
- something given or received in return or recompense for service, merit, hardship, etc.
- to recompense or requite (a person or animal) for service, merit, achievement, etc.
- to make return for or requite (service, merit, etc.); recompense.
Origin of reward
1275–1325; (v.) Middle English rewarden orig., to regard < Old North French rewarder to look at, variant of Old French reguarder; (noun) Middle English: orig., regard < Anglo-French, Old North French, variant of Old French reguard, derivative of reguarder; see regard
Synonyms
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com2. desert, pay, remuneration; requital; bounty, premium, bonus. 3. compensate, pay, remunerate.
Synonym study
2. Reward, prize, recompense imply something given in return for good. A reward is something given or done in return for good (or, more rarely, evil) received; it may refer to something abstract or concrete: a $50 reward; Virtue is its own reward. Prize refers to something concrete offered as a reward of merit, or to be contested for and given to the winner: to win a prize for an essay. A recompense is something given or done, whether as reward or punishment, for acts performed, services rendered, etc.; or it may be something given in compensation for loss or injury suffered, etc.: Renown was his principal recompense for years of hard work.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for reward
Contemporary Examples
For instance, Best Buy has over 40 million members in its customer loyalty program, Reward Zone.
Their reward: what is possibly the most infuriating series finale of the new millennium.
The Biggest Bombs of 2014: ‘Sex Tape,’ Mariah Carey’s Vocals, ‘How I Met Your Mother’ and MoreKevin Fallon
December 19, 2014
Still images of each will be released today and a reward will be posted for information leading to their arrest.
The $50,000 reward means a weapon was brandished to either the customers or the employees.
When it comes to setting up a reward, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service considers “$50,000 commonplace.”
Historical Examples
I asked him what reward the Helots had for bravery or virtue.
PhilotheaLydia Maria Child
On the fourth and fifth days, however, he had the reward for his caution.
Way of the LawlessMax Brand
And the great size of the reward was the very thing that kept him safe.
Way of the LawlessMax Brand
Because they won't figure that any man would toss up that reward.
Way of the LawlessMax Brand
It asserts that we have the right to choice of our own work and to the reward of our own toil.
reward
- something given or received in return for a deed or service rendered
- a sum of money offered, esp for help in finding a criminal or for the return of lost or stolen property
- profit or return
- something received in return for good or evil; deserts
- psychol any pleasant event that follows a response and therefore increases the likelihood of the response recurring in the future
- (tr) to give (something) to (someone), esp in gratitude for a service rendered; recompense
Word Origin
C14: from Old Norman French rewarder to regard, from re- + warder to care for, guard, of Germanic origin; see ward
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for reward
n.
mid-14c., "a regarding, heeding, observation," from Anglo-French and Old North French reward, back-formation from rewarder (see reward (v.)). Meaning "repayment for some service" is from late 14c. Sense of "sum of money in exchange for capture" is from 1590s.
v.
c.1300 "to grant, bestow;" early 14c. "to give as compensation," from Old North French rewarder "to regard, reward," variant of Old French regarder "take notice of, regard, watch over," from re-, intensive prefix (see re-), + garder "look, heed, watch" (see guard (v.)). Originally any form of requital. A doublet of regard. Related: Rewarded; rewarding.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
reward
(rĭ-wôrd′)
- The return for the performance of a behavior that is desired; a positive reinforcement.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
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