Rewarding

How to spell rewarding

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce rewarding

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does rewarding mean?

1. adjectiveGiving a sense of satisfaction, worth, or benefit in return for the effort spent.
2. verbPresent participle of reward: giving someone something in return for good service, effort, or loyalty.

Rewarding in a sentence

• adjective

  Volunteering at the shelter proved far more rewarding than she expected.

• verb

  The company is rewarding its longest-serving staff with extra leave.

• adjective

  Teaching can be a demanding yet deeply rewarding career.

• verb

  The scheme works by rewarding customers for every purchase they make.

Where does rewarding come from?

Language of origin: French

This word grows out of the verb 'reward', which English took from Anglo-Norman French in the 1300s. The French 'rewarder' (a variant of 'regarder') was built from the prefix 're-', here adding emphasis, and 'warder', meaning 'to guard, watch over, or keep'. That same Germanic root for guarding also gave English 'ward' and 'warden', and it surfaces in 'guard' and 'regard' through the parallel French spelling with a hard g. The original sense leaned on watching over someone, then shifted toward giving someone something in return for what they had done, whether punishment or recompense, before settling on the modern idea of a positive return. The '-ing' form then developed the adjective meaning of something that gives a satisfying return of effort or money. Knowing the buried 'ward' (as in keeping watch) helps fix the spelling, since the middle is 'ward', not 'word'.

How the word is built

• re- (back, again)
• ward (root from Old French guarder/warder: to guard, keep)
• -ing (forming adjective/present participle)