bonus

[boh-nuhs]

noun

plural

bonuses 

1. something given or paid over and above what is due.

   Synonyms: gift, honorarium, reward

2. a sum of money granted or given to an employee, a returned soldier, etc., in addition to regular pay, usually in appreciation for work done, length of service, accumulated favors, etc.

3. something free, as an extra dividend, given by a corporation to a purchaser of its securities.

4. a premium paid for a loan, contract, etc.

5. something extra or additional given freely.

   Every purchaser of a pound of coffee received a box of cookies as a bonus.

bonus

/ ˈbəʊnəs /

noun

1. something given, paid, or received above what is due or expected

   a Christmas bonus for all employees

2. an extra dividend allotted to shareholders out of profits

3. insurance a dividend, esp a percentage of net profits, distributed to policyholders either annually or when the policy matures

4. a slang word for a bribe

Word History and Origins

Origin of bonus¹

1765–75; < Latin: good

Word History and Origins

Origin of bonus¹

C18: from Latin bonus (adj) good

Synonym Study

Bonus, bounty, premium refer to something extra beyond a stipulated payment. A bonus is a gift to reward performance, paid either by a private employer or by a government: a bonus based on salary; a soldiers' bonus. A bounty is a public aid or reward offered to stimulate interest in a specific purpose or undertaking and to encourage performance: a bounty for killing wolves. A premium is usually something additional given as an inducement to buy, produce, or the like: a premium received with a magazine subscription. See also present ².

Example Sentences

As part of its hiring blitz, the agency has dropped age, training and education standards and has offered recruits signing bonuses as high as $50,000.

Read more on Salon

Gillian praised the package on offer, which includes wage increases, more vacation and sick time, and the addition of $3,000 in restricted stock to boost a signing bonus.

Read more on Barron's

The penalties for signing Baldoquin included restricting the Angels to no more than a $300,000 bonus for any other international prospects they might sign that year.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

If they can accept me and my staff and what's going on that's got to be a bonus.

Read more on BBC

The contract paid him a $300,000 bonus, more than 1,500 times the average annual wage in Cuba, according to CiberCuba.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• benefit 
• bounty 
• dividend 
• gift 
• gratuity 
• perk 
• premium 
• prize 
• reward