Home UK English guerdon

Meaning of guerdon in English:

guerdon

Pronunciation /ˈɡəːd(ə)n/

noun

mainly archaic

  • A reward or recompense.

    ‘Rather he returns us to the experience of reading, ‘knowing coldly a need for guerdons, guardians.’’
    • ‘The second half is taken up by the literary contest between the robust but somewhat archaic Aeschylus and the more modern but slightly too glib Euripides for the guerdon of resuming life and reluming Athenian patriotic fervor.’
    recompense, prize, prize money, winnings, purse, award, honour, decoration, profit, advantage, benefit, bonus, plus, premium

verb

[with object]mainly archaic

  • Give a reward to (someone)

    • ‘there might come a time in which he should guerdon them’
    recompense, pay, remunerate, give a bounty to, give a present to, make something worth someone's while, tip, honour, decorate, give an award to, recognize, requite

Origin

Late Middle English from Old French, from medieval Latin widerdonum, alteration (by association with Latin donum ‘gift’) of a West Germanic compound represented by Old High German widarlōn ‘repayment’.