Award

How to spell award

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce award

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does award mean?

1. nounA prize or formal recognition given to someone for an achievement.
2. verbTo grant or assign something officially, such as a prize, contract, or sum of money.

Award in a sentence

• noun

  She collected the award for best new author at the ceremony.

• verb

  The judges will award extra points for originality.

• noun

  The company received a national award for workplace safety.

• verb

  The council voted to award the contract to a local firm.

Where does award come from?

Language of origin: French

The word comes from the Anglo-Norman French awarder, a variant of esguarder, meaning 'to consider, judge, or decide after examination'. That verb was built from the prefix es- (an intensifying element, ultimately from Latin ex- 'out, thoroughly') joined to the Germanic root guarder, 'to watch over or guard', which is itself a cousin of the native English word 'ward'. The original idea was of a judge or panel carefully watching the facts and then handing down a decision, which is exactly how a court still 'awards' damages or a committee 'awards' a prize. English adopted the word in the 1300s, first in the legal sense of a formal judgement, and only later broadened it to cover any prize or honour granted after consideration. The shared root with 'guard' and 'ward' explains the single -w- in the spelling, and the silent feel of the opening 'a-' (a reduced form of that old prefix) is the small trap that occasionally trips writers.

How the word is built

• a- (intensive prefix, from Old French es-/Latin ex-)
• ward (to watch over, decide, guard)