Reward

How to spell reward

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce reward

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does reward mean?

1. nounSomething given in return for service, effort, achievement, or good behaviour.
2. verbTo give something to someone in recognition of their effort, service, or good behaviour.

Reward in a sentence

• noun

  The company offered a cash reward for information about the theft.

• verb

  The manager wanted to reward the team for hitting the deadline.

• noun

  A quiet weekend away felt like a fitting reward after the busy quarter.

• verb

  Good training should reward patience rather than speed.

Where does reward come from?

Language of origin: French

Reward arrived in English in the 1300s from the Anglo-Norman and Old French rewarder, a northern French form of regarder, which meant 'to look at', 'to regard', or 'to heed'. That verb was built from re- (here an intensifying prefix meaning 'back' or 'again') and warder, 'to guard or watch over', a word the French had themselves borrowed from a Germanic root that also gives us 'ward' and 'warden'. The earliest English sense was simply 'to regard' or 'to pay attention to', but the idea of taking notice of someone soon slid into taking notice with a gift, that is, repaying them for a service. By the late Middle Ages the noun had settled into its modern meaning of something given in return for merit or effort. The shared ancestry with 'regard' and 'guard' explains the steady -ward ending, which is the spot writers should anchor when spelling it.

How the word is built

• re- (back, in return)
• ward (from Old French warder: to guard, watch over)