stipend

American  

[stahy-pend] / ˈstaɪ pɛnd /

noun

• stipends
  plural

1. a periodic payment, especially a scholarship or fellowship allowance granted to a student.

2. fixed or regular pay; salary.

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stipend British  

/ ˈstaɪpɛnd /

noun

1. a fixed or regular amount of money paid as a salary or allowance, as to a clergyman

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Synonym Usage

See pay ¹.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• stipendless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• stipends
  plural

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:

• stipend vs. salary

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stipend stipends

Unlike most high-level presidential appointees, the Arctic commission chair — who is eligible only for a stipend of up to about $55,000 a year — is not a federal employee under the law.

From Salon ● Sep. 16, 2026

The position pays a stipend of just $75 a month — essentially volunteer work.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

As a Vietnam War veteran, Bo Kemper gets a stipend from the U.S.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 16, 2026

The company gives each employee a monthly stipend of about $500 to spend on AI tools, including those from its rivals, Yun said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 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

Many monks in Thailand receive stipends from the government and are therefore considered state officials.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

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 Transportation Department’s Maritime Administration also requested $168 million to more than double funding for a program that pays stipends to private companies that operate U.S.-flagged tankers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 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

The others were sustained on stipends from donors such as the National Research Council and the Rockefeller Foundation, or were paid out of unallocated grants made to the Rad Lab by the same bodies.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

Related Words

• allowance
• fee
• gratuity
• pension
• salary
• wage