Meanings
reward1
plural rewards
- Something of value given in return for an act.
For catching the thief, you'll get a nice reward.
Synonyms: payment, recompense, tithing, meed · Antonyms: penalty, punishment
- Christianityone's place in heaven; God's judgment in the afterlife; death
Your daddy ever tell you how Uncle Mac come to his reward?
2007, No Country for Old Men by Joel and Ethen Coen2 more examples
And behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with mee, to giue euery man according as his worke shall be.
[1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Revelation 22:12When I get my reward my work will all be done / And I will sit back in my chair between the Father and the Son / No more holes to fill and no more rocks to break / And no more loading boxes on the trucks for someone else to take
2015, “Something More Than Free”, in Something More Than Free, performed by Jason Isbell - The result of an action, whether good or bad.
Is this the reward I get for telling the truth: to be put in jail?
1 more example
Christian Benteke's first-half goal was just reward for Villa's undoubted superiority but Bradford managed to survive without further damage until half-time, before scoring the goal that takes them to Wembley for the first time since 1996.
2013 January 22, Phil McNulty, “Aston Villa 2-1 Bradford (3-4)”, in BBCSynonyms: consequence
reward2
present singular third person rewards · participle present rewarding · participle past rewarded · past rewarded
- transitiveTo give a reward to or for.
Why are you rewarding that bad behaviour?
1 more example
Why are you rewarding the child for misbehaving?
- transitiveTo be a recompense for.
Decorations are meant to reward the most meritous acts and services.
1 more example
The Italian opted for Bolton's Cahill alongside captain John Terry - and his decision was rewarded with a goal after only 13 minutes. Bulgaria gave a hint of defensive frailties to come when they failed to clear Young's corner, and when Gareth Barry found Cahill in the box he applied the finish past Nikolay Mihaylov.
2011 September 2, Phil McNulty, “Bulgaria 0-3 England”, in BBC - obsoletetransitiveTo give (something) as a reward.
Thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Samuel 24:171 more example
Thenne syr Marhaus departed and within two dayes his damoysel brought hym where as was a grete tornement that the lady de Vawse has cryed […] And there syr Marhaus dyd so nobly that he was renomed & had somtyme doune fourty knyghtes and soo the serklet of gold was rewarded hym
1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “xxvj”, in Le Morte Darthur, book IV
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSomething of value given in return for an act.
nounA prize promised for a certain deed or catch
nounThe result of an action, whether good or bad.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna recompense for worthy acts or retribution for wrongdoing
nounan act performed to strengthen approved behavior
verbact or give recompense in recognition of someone's behavior or actions
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
reward · noun
- Old Frenchreward“reward”
- Middle Englishreward
- Englishreward
From Middle English reward, rewarde, from Old French reward (“reward”) (compare Old French regard, whence modern French regard, and also English regard through Middle French), from rewarder (“to reward”) (compare Old French reguarder), from re- + warder (“to guard, keep”) (compare Old French guarder); the Anglo-Norman forms are derived from Old Northern French variants of Old French, ultimately of Germanic (Frankish) origin. Compare regard, warden, guard. See more below. Mostly displaced Old English mēd, whence Modern English meed. Displaced Old English lēan and edlēan.
More words from Middle English, Old French
Full word history & related roots →reward · verb
- Proto-Indo-European*wer-“to cover, shelter, defend, guard, shut”
- Proto-Germanic*wardōną“to guard, defend”
- Frankish*wardōn“to guard, keep”
- Old Northern French[Term?]
- Anglo-Normanrewarder“to reward”
- Middle Englishrewarden
- Englishreward
From Middle English rewarden, from Anglo-Norman rewarder (“to reward”), from re- + warder (“to guard, keep”), from Old Northern French [Term?], from Frankish *wardōn (“to guard, keep”), from Proto-Germanic *wardōną (“to guard, defend”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to cover, shelter, defend, guard, shut”). Cognate with Old Saxon wardōn (“to guard, provide for, protect”), Old English weardian (“to guard”), Old High German wartēn (“to watch, keep, look after”). More at ward. Piecewise doublet of regard. Displaced Old English lēanian. In this sense, displaced Old English ġieldan, whence Modern English yield.
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Old Northern French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic مُكَافَأَة, ثَوَاب
- مُكَافَأَة (mukāfaʔa)something of value given in return for an act
- ثَوَاب (ṯawāb)something of value given in return for an act
- جَائِزَة (jāʔiza)something of value given in return for an act
- إِنْعَام (ʔinʕām)something of value given in return for an act
- جَائِزَة (jāʔiza)prize promised for a certain deed or catch
- جَزَاء (jazāʔ)result of an action
- مَنَحَ (manaḥa)give a reward to
Bengali পুরষ্কার, জাযা
- পুরষ্কার (purośkar)something of value given in return for an act
- জাযা (jaja)something of value given in return for an act
- এনাম (enam)something of value given in return for an act
- জাযা (jaja)prize promised for a certain deed or catch
- জাযা (jaja)result of an action
Bulgarian награ́да, възнагражде́ние
- награ́да (nagráda)something of value given in return for an act
- възнагражде́ние (văznagraždénie)prize promised for a certain deed or catch
- награжда́вам (nagraždávam)give a reward to
- възнагражда́вам (văznagraždávam)give a reward to
Catalan recompensa, recompensar
- recompensasomething of value given in return for an act
- recompensargive a reward to
- premiargive a reward to
Chinese Cantonese 獎勵 /奖励
- 獎勵 /奖励 (zoeng² lai⁶)give a reward to
Chinese Mandarin 報酬 /报酬, 獎勵 /奖励
- 報酬 /报酬 (bàochóu)something of value given in return for an act
- 獎勵 /奖励 (jiǎnglì)something of value given in return for an act
- 獎賞 /奖赏 (jiǎngshǎng)something of value given in return for an act
- 獎勵 /奖励 (jiǎnglì)give a reward to
- 報答 /报答 (bàodá)give a reward to
Czech odměna, odměna
- odměnasomething of value given in return for an act
- odměnaresult of an action
- odměnitgive a reward to
Danish belønning, belønne
- belønningsomething of value given in return for an act
- belønnegive a reward to
- præmieregive a reward to
Dutch beloning, prijs
- beloningsomething of value given in return for an act
- prijssomething of value given in return for an act
- loonsomething of value given in return for an act
- beloningprize promised for a certain deed or catch
- prijsprize promised for a certain deed or catch
- beloningresult of an action
- loonresult of an action
- verloningresult of an action
- belonengive a reward to
Esperanto rekompenco, premii
- rekompencosomething of value given in return for an act
- premiigive a reward to
Estonian autasu, autasustama
- autasusomething of value given in return for an act
- autasustamagive a reward to
Finnish palkkio, löytöpalkkio
- palkkiosomething of value given in return for an act
- löytöpalkkiosomething of value given in return for an act
- palkkioprize promised for a certain deed or catch
- tapporahaprize promised for a certain deed or catch
- palkkioresult of an action
- palkitagive a reward to
French récompense, salaire
- récompensesomething of value given in return for an act
- salairesomething of value given in return for an act
- récompenseresult of an action
- récompensergive a reward to
German Belohnung, Lohn
- Belohnungsomething of value given in return for an act
- Lohnsomething of value given in return for an act
- Belohnungprize promised for a certain deed or catch
- Lohnresult of an action
- belohnengive a reward to
Greek ανταμοιβή, αμείβω
- ανταμοιβή (antamoiví)something of value given in return for an act
- αμείβω (ameívo)give a reward to
Hebrew פְּרָס, שָׂכָר
- פְּרָס (pras)something of value given in return for an act
- שָׂכָר (sakhár)something of value given in return for an act
- שָׂכָר (sakhár)prize promised for a certain deed or catch
- פְּרָס (pras)prize promised for a certain deed or catch
- גְּמוּל (gmul)result of an action
- גָּמַל (gamál)give a reward to
Hindi इनाम, पुरस्कार
- इनाम (inām)something of value given in return for an act
- पुरस्कार (puraskār)something of value given in return for an act
- पुरस्कार (puraskār)prize promised for a certain deed or catch
Hungarian jutalom, jutalmaz
- jutalomsomething of value given in return for an act
- jutalmazgive a reward to
- megjutalmazgive a reward to
Icelandic umbun
- umbunsomething of value given in return for an act
Indonesian imbalan, hadiah
- imbalansomething of value given in return for an act
- hadiahsomething of value given in return for an act
- ganjaransomething of value given in return for an act
- menghadiahkangive a reward to
Italian ricompensa, taglia
- ricompensasomething of value given in return for an act
- tagliaprize promised for a certain deed or catch
- ricompensaresult of an action
- premiaregive a reward to
- ricompensaregive a reward to
Japanese 見返り, 賞
- 見返り (mikaeri)something of value given in return for an act
- 賞 (shō)something of value given in return for an act
- 褒賞 (hōshō)something of value given in return for an act
- 報酬 (hōshū)something of value given in return for an act
- 謝礼金 (shareikin)something of value given in return for an act
- 謝礼 (sharei)something of value given in return for an act
- 報い (mukui)result of an action
- 報いる (mukuiru)give a reward to
Korean 상, 보수
- 상 (sang)something of value given in return for an act
- 보수 (bosu)something of value given in return for an act
- 보상 (bosang)something of value given in return for an act
- 사례금 (saryegeum)something of value given in return for an act
- 사례 (sarye)something of value given in return for an act
- 보상하다 (bosanghada)give a reward to
Latin fructus, praemium
- fructussomething of value given in return for an act
- praemiumsomething of value given in return for an act
- praemiumprize promised for a certain deed or catch
Latvian atlīdzība, apbalvot
- atlīdzībasomething of value given in return for an act
- apbalvotgive a reward to
Lithuanian atlyginimas
- atlyginimassomething of value given in return for an act
Malay ganjar, pahala
- ganjarsomething of value given in return for an act
- pahalasomething of value given in return for an act
- ganjaransomething of value given in return for an act
Norwegian Bokmål belønning
- belønningsomething of value given in return for an act
Polish nagroda, wyróżnienie
- nagrodasomething of value given in return for an act
- wyróżnienieprize promised for a certain deed or catch
- nagrodaprize promised for a certain deed or catch
- nagradzaćgive a reward to
- nagrodzićgive a reward to
Portuguese recompensa, recompensa
- recompensasomething of value given in return for an act
- recompensaprize promised for a certain deed or catch
- recompensargive a reward to
Romanian răsplată, recompensă
- răsplatăsomething of value given in return for an act
- recompensăsomething of value given in return for an act
Russian награ́да, вознагражде́ние
- награ́да (nagráda)something of value given in return for an act
- вознагражде́ние (voznagraždénije)something of value given in return for an act
- пре́мия (prémija)something of value given in return for an act
- вознагражде́ние (voznagraždénije)prize promised for a certain deed or catch
- награ́да (nagráda)prize promised for a certain deed or catch
- награ́да (nagráda)result of an action
- награжда́ть (nagraždátʹ)give a reward to
- награди́ть (nagradítʹ)give a reward to
- вознагражда́ть (voznagraždátʹ)give a reward to
- вознагради́ть (voznagradítʹ)give a reward to
- поощря́ть (pooščrjátʹ)give a reward to
- поощри́ть (pooščrítʹ)give a reward to
Scottish Gaelic duais, dìoladh
- duaissomething of value given in return for an act
- dìoladhsomething of value given in return for an act
- dìoladhprize promised for a certain deed or catch
- dìoladhresult of an action
Slovak odmena, odmeniť
- odmenasomething of value given in return for an act
- odmeniťgive a reward to
Spanish recompensa, recompensar
- recompensasomething of value given in return for an act
- recompensargive a reward to
Swedish belöning, belöna
- belöningsomething of value given in return for an act
- belönagive a reward to
Tagalog gantimpala
- gantimpalasomething of value given in return for an act
Thai รางวัล, ตอบแทน
- รางวัล (raang-wan)something of value given in return for an act
- ตอบแทน (dtɔ̀ɔp-tɛɛn)give a reward to
- ตกรางวัลgive a reward to
Turkish ödül, mükâfat
- ödülsomething of value given in return for an act
- mükâfatsomething of value given in return for an act
- ödüllendirmekgive a reward to
Ukrainian нагоро́да, винагоро́да
- нагоро́да (nahoróda)something of value given in return for an act
- винагоро́да (vynahoróda)something of value given in return for an act
- нагоро́джувати (nahoródžuvaty)give a reward to
- нагороди́ти (nahorodýty)give a reward to
Urdu اِنْعام, صِلَہ
- اِنْعام (in'ām)something of value given in return for an act
- صِلَہ (sila)something of value given in return for an act
- جائِزَہ (jāiza)something of value given in return for an act
Vietnamese tặng thưởng, thưởng
- tặng thưởngsomething of value given in return for an act
- thưởngsomething of value given in return for an act
Yiddish שׂכר
- שׂכר (skhar)something of value given in return for an act
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with reward
Anagrams
Cite this entry
reward. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reward
“reward.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reward. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “reward,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reward.
Source: reward on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.