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

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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)

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Compare meaning

How does stipend compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• stipend vs. salary

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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

One startup even offers a rent stipend to workers who choose to live near the office.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

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

Technically I wouldn’t be earning a salary—instead I received a training stipend from USA Fencing, the official organizing body of fencing in the United States.

From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad

As the ultra-Orthodox community becomes bigger, so has the debate around the expense of supporting them with stipends so they can devote themselves to full-time religious study.

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026

Bruno said he’d explore student stipends as a way to enable more people to attend community college successfully.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 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 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

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Related Words

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

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