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
The Syrian Refugee Crisis Continues
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Class Matters
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
The Field Guide to the North American Teenager
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
Most payments are hourly, as they would be for nonfamily caregivers, but 13 states also have programs that pay family caregivers a small stipend of $40 to $50 a day not tied to hourly work.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
While residents have no salaries or pay no taxes, they do receive a kind of monthly stipend of just over 200 euros in exchange for a minimum of six hours of work per day.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
As a Vietnam War veteran, Bo Kemper gets a stipend from the U.S.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 16, 2026
His company is considering providing workers with a fuel stipend if prices remain high, he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026
Mama Tataba’s job, we were surprised to learn, was to live with us and earn a small stipend by doing the same work she’d done for our forerunner in the Kilanga Mission, Brother Fowles.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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
The terms of his deal there weren’t made public, but packages for hotly recruited athletes at top programs like LSU can include free tuition, revenue sharing, endorsement money and parent stipends for travel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 10, 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.
