stipend
Americannoun
-
stipends
plural
-
a periodic payment, especially a scholarship or fellowship allowance granted to a student.
-
fixed or regular pay; salary.
noun
Synonym Usage
See pay 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of stipend
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English stipendie, from Latin stīpendium “soldier's pay,” syncopated variant of *stipipendium, equivalent to stipi-, combining form of stips a coin + pend(ere) “to weigh out, pay” ( see pend) + -ium noun suffix ( see -ium)
Compare meaning
How does stipend compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A stipend is a fixed, regular payment, usually meant to pay for something specific. It's kind of like an allowance, but for grownups — a college scholarship might include a stipend each semester for books, for example. Coming from the Latin stipendium, which means “tax, pay, or gift,” the noun stipend is defined as a regular, unchanging payment usually given as reward for services, but sometimes given as an allowance with no services or expectations attached. A summer internship that does not offer a full salary might instead include a weekly stipend that covers transportation and lunch costs. Synonyms include salary and payment.
Vocabulary lists containing stipend
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Stetler, a married father of seven, makes $600 a week, plus a $1,500 monthly housing stipend that is less than his housing costs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
As a Vietnam War veteran, Bo Kemper gets a stipend from the U.S.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 16, 2026
The heftiest chunk of her pay comes from a nontaxable stipend travel nurses earn to cover their living expenses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026
Martin will be available to be on the active roster for 12 games, while receiving a weekly stipend of $750 in addition to a pro-rated minimum salary of $6,000.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 10, 2026
The stipend turned a noble act of charity into a painful way to make a few dollars, and it wasn’t worth it.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
Perhaps — if such a program were enacted at the federal level — the brilliant idea of targeting Medicaid coverage could be combined with some opt-in option, perhaps with smaller stipends.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
He offered cash stipends of $7 a month to alleviate their hardship.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 12, 2026
The research was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Canada Research Chair research stipends.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 2, 2026
Sharmina Siraj, a mother of two, called Zia "an inspiration", noting that stipends introduced by the former leader to improve women's education made a "huge impact" on her daughters.
From BBC ● Dec. 31, 2025
The brokers wait eagerly for defectors to graduate from the settlement center and begin receiving monthly stipends from the government.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
