guerdon
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Alternative forms
- gerdon (obsolete)
[edit] Etymology
From Old French guerdon, from Medieval Latin widerdonum, from West Germanic ( > Old English wiþerlēan), literally ‘again-payment’, with the second element assimilated to Latin donum (“gift”).
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Noun
guerdon (plural guerdons)
- (now literary) A reward, prize or recompense for a service; an accolade.
- Late 14th century: — Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Franklin's Prologue and Tale", The Canterbury Tales
- My gerdon is but bresting of myn herte.
- 1819: Walter Scott, Ivanhoe
- "That will I do blithely," replied the Pilgrim, "and without guerdon; my oath, for a time, prohibits me from touching gold."
- 1936: Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind, ch.15
- Melanie might have given him his new coat but this sash was her gift, her own secret guerdon for him to wear into battle, something that would make him remember her every time he looked at it.
- Late 14th century: — Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Franklin's Prologue and Tale", The Canterbury Tales
[edit] Verb
guerdon (third-person singular simple present guerdons, present participle guerdoning, simple past and past participle guerdoned)
- (transitive) To give such a reward to.
