reward

[ri-wawrd] /rɪˈwɔrd/

noun

a sum of money offered for the detection or capture of a criminal, the recovery of lost or stolen property, etc.

something given or received in return or recompense for service, merit, hardship, etc.

verb (used with object)

to recompense or requite (a person or animal) for service, merit, achievement, etc.

to make return for or requite (service, merit, etc.); recompense.

Origin

1275-1325; (v.) Middle English rewarden orig., to regard < Old North French rewarder to look at, variant of Old French reguarder; (noun) Middle English: orig., regard < Anglo-French, Old North French, variant of Old French reguard, derivative of reguarder; see regard

Related forms

rewardable, adjective

rewardableness, noun

rewardably, adverb

rewarder, noun

rewardless, adjective

misreward, verb (used with object)

overreward, verb

superreward, verb (used with object), noun

unrewardable, adjective

unrewarded, adjective

well-rewarded, adjective

Synonyms

2. desert, pay, remuneration; requital; bounty, premium, bonus. Reward, prize, recompense imply something given in return for good. A reward is something given or done in return for good (or, more rarely, evil) received; it may refer to something abstract or concrete: a $50 reward; Virtue is its own reward. Prize refers to something concrete offered as a reward of merit, or to be contested for and given to the winner: to win a prize for an essay. A recompense is something given or done, whether as reward or punishment, for acts performed, services rendered, etc.; or it may be something given in compensation for loss or injury suffered, etc.: Renown was his principal recompense for years of hard work. 3. compensate, pay, remunerate.

Examples from the web for reward

Free will is not a pre-requisite for the enforcement of reward and punishment.
But he added that the reward did not include the case of the defendants in the trial.
The need to rethink the scholarly reward system came up time and again at the meeting.
Commerce will swallow museums if educators try to copy the norms of business for immediate financial reward.
Still, the mountain will reward any approach, except careless footing.
Every time you get to the next level, hot jets of reward chemical coat your brain in a lathery foam.
The tie between monetary reward and grade is strong.
What matters is the intrinsic reward of doing the job.
Both these drives are challenging and require planning and preparation, but offer thrilling experiences as a reward.
And this unconscious reward is pushing the next time to do it again and again.

British Dictionary definitions for reward

reward

/rɪˈwɔːd/

noun

something given or received in return for a deed or service rendered

a sum of money offered, esp for help in finding a criminal or for the return of lost or stolen property

profit or return

something received in return for good or evil; deserts

(psychol) any pleasant event that follows a response and therefore increases the likelihood of the response recurring in the future

verb

(transitive) to give (something) to (someone), esp in gratitude for a service rendered; recompense

Derived Forms

rewardable, adjective
rewarder, noun
rewardless, adjective

Word Origin

C14: from Old Norman French rewarder to regard, from re- + warder to care for, guard, of Germanic origin; see ward

Word Origin and History for reward

mid-14c., "a regarding, heeding, observation," from Anglo-French and Old North French reward, back-formation from rewarder (see reward (v.)). Meaning "repayment for some service" is from late 14c. Sense of "sum of money in exchange for capture" is from 1590s.

c.1300 "to grant, bestow;" early 14c. "to give as compensation," from Old North French rewarder "to regard, reward," variant of Old French regarder "take notice of, regard, watch over," from re-, intensive prefix (see re-), + garder "look, heed, watch" (see guard (v.)). Originally any form of requital. A doublet of regard. Related: Rewarded; rewarding.

reward in Medicine

reward re·ward (rĭ-wôrd')
n.
The return for the performance of a behavior that is desired; a positive reinforcement.

re·ward' v.