bonus

[boh-nuh s] /ˈboʊ nəs/

noun, plural bonuses.

something given or paid over and above what is due.

a sum of money granted or given to an employee, a returned soldier, etc., in addition to regular pay, usually in appreciation for work done, length of service, accumulated favors, etc.

something free, as an extra dividend, given by a corporation to a purchaser of its securities.

a premium paid for a loan, contract, etc.

something extra or additional given freely:

Every purchaser of a pound of coffee received a box of cookies as a bonus.

Origin

1765-75; < Latin: good

Synonyms

1. reward, honorarium, gift. 2. Bonus, bounty, premium refer to something extra beyond a stipulated payment. A bonus is a gift to reward performance, paid either by a private employer or by a government: a bonus based on salary; a soldiers' bonus. A bounty is a public aid or reward offered to stimulate interest in a specific purpose or undertaking and to encourage performance: a bounty for killing wolves. A premium is usually something additional given as an inducement to buy, produce, or the like: a premium received with a magazine subscription.

Examples from the web for bonus

But the otherwise unremarkable experiment yielded an unexpected bonus.
After an enemy dies off, you can set your crew of soldiers to eating their corpse to get bonus items and extra health.
That's a big bonus for the hardcore geek with lots of extra hardware to support.
Workers would think of the provisional bonus as theirs, and work harder to prevent it from being taken away.
And we're adding value with bonus information and a much bolder design.
And starting next year, those with the best scores will be eligible for bonus funds.
Click ahead for the plan and a closer look at each outdoor bonus space.
To avoid this they paid the reps a salary plus bonus.
Commemorative edition features two hours of bonus programs.
bonus point: the materials needed for the device are cheap and easily available.

British Dictionary definitions for bonus

bonus

/ˈbəʊnəs/

noun

something given, paid, or received above what is due or expected: a Christmas bonus for all employees

(mainly Brit) an extra dividend allotted to shareholders out of profits

(insurance, Brit) a dividend, esp a percentage of net profits, distributed to policyholders either annually or when the policy matures

(Brit) a slang word for a bribe

Word Origin

C18: from Latin bonus (adj) good

Word Origin and History for bonus

1773, "Stock Exchange Latin" [Weekley], from Latin bonus "good" (adj.); see bene-. The correct noun form would be bonum. In U.S. history the bonus army was tens of thousands of World War I veterans and followers who marched on Washington, D.C., in 1932 demanding early redemption of their service bonus certificates (which carried a maximum value of $625).