bonus

[boh-nuhs]

See more synonyms for bonus on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural bo·nus·es.

something given or paid over and above what is due.
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.
something free, as an extra dividend, given by a corporation to a purchaser of its securities.

a premium paid for a loan, contract, etc.
something extra or additional given freely: Every purchaser of a pound of coffee received a box of cookies as a bonus.

Origin of bonus

1765–75; < Latin: good

Synonyms for bonus

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1. reward, honorarium, gift.

Synonym study

1, 2. 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 present².

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for bonus

premium, prize, gift, perk, gratuity, benefit, bounty, dividend, reward, gravy, goody, tip, ice, commission, plus, honorarium, frosting, hand-out

Examples from the Web for bonus

Contemporary Examples of bonus

And as a bonus, they send home more than $20 billion in remittances each year.
Why Mexicans Are Enraged by Obama’s Big Tuesday Meeting
Ruben Navarrette Jr.
January 6, 2015
When they steal things, they want to get all the bonus points.
The Insane $11 Billion Scam at Retailers’ Return Desks
M.L. Nestel
December 19, 2014
Prosecutors say the two then promised that employee a $10,000 bonus, which was promptly paid.
Obama’s Golf Buddy May Be a ‘Hostile Witness’ in Chicago Corruption Case
Ben Jacobs
December 3, 2014
And bonus points for the school bus that burst into flames with the comic timing of a Simpsons gag.
The Walking Dead’s ‘Self Help’: A Grim Show Displays Its Comedy Streak, and A Major Reveal
Melissa Leon
November 10, 2014
Salem the prep school kid felt so slighted by a paltry $3 million bonus in 2011 that he left the firm.
Too Big to Jail: Confessions of a Goldman Sachs Brat
Michael Daly
June 26, 2014

Historical Examples of bonus

No, what I want to get at is your idea of what should come to you, as a bonus, when I scoop the board.
The Market-Place
Harold Frederic
Bonus Bill, advocated by Calhoun, 257;vetoed by Madison, 257.
Union and Democracy
Allen Johnson
To win on first card played a bonus of half the limit hand is given.
Pung Chow
Lew Lysle Harr
A prince, even, would have been satisfied with such a bonus.
Louise de la Valliere
Alexandre Dumas, Pere
The agitation for a bonus therefore continues in the United States.
The Economic Aspect of Geology
C. K. Leith

British Dictionary definitions for bonus

bonus

noun

something given, paid, or received above what is due or expecteda Christmas bonus for all employees
mainly British an extra dividend allotted to shareholders out of profits
insurance, British a dividend, esp a percentage of net profits, distributed to policyholders either annually or when the policy matures
British a slang word for a bribe

Word Origin for bonus

C18: from Latin bonus (adj) good

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bonus

1773, "Stock Exchange Latin" [Weekley], from Latin bonus "good" (adj.); see bene-. The correct noun form would be bonum. In U.S. history the bonus army was tens of thousands of World War I veterans and followers who marched on Washington, D.C., in 1932 demanding early redemption of their service bonus certificates (which carried a maximum value of $625).