guerdon
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of guerdon
1325–75; Middle English < Old French, variant of werdoun < Medieval Latin widerdonum, alteration (probably by association with Latin dōnum gift) of Old High German widarlōn, equivalent to widar again, back + lōn reward; cognate with Old English witherlēan
Explanation
A guerdon is a reward. The disappointing guerdon for your day spent shoveling your elderly neighbor's driveway might be a little tin of very old licorice candy. The word guerdon, pronounced "GER-dun," is an Old French word that literally means "reward or payment." Though it is rarely used today, there's no reason you can't use it to describe the compensation you get for some achievement, like the guerdon you received when your essay won the writing contest — guerdon is another term for "prize money" in this case.
Vocabulary lists containing guerdon
Beowulf vocabulary
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Much Ado About Nothing
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Tolkien Reading Day, List 11
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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.
To snag the top guerdon at a fake National Spelling Bee, Guy relies on his photographic memory and a certain prospicience about the vulnerabilities of spelling prodigies.
From Time ● Mar. 13, 2014
The guerdon of the struggle remained the same; but, by the beginning of the last scene, most of its contenders and nearly all of their weapons had been altered.
From Time Magazine Archive
When "Stunner" Harding was elected President, he returned the guerdon of friendship, taking "Chain Ganger" Crissinger down to Washington to be Comptroller of the Currency.
From Time Magazine Archive
A word from their lips stands guerdon for a life, and a look for the service of the heart.
From My Lady Rotha A Romance by Weyman, Stanley J.
Another and more recent legend is, that here a lover was dared by his mistress to leap across the chasm, some fourteen feet, her glove to be the guerdon of his success.
From Nooks and Corners of the New England Coast by Drake, Samuel Adams
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.
