bounty
/ˈbaʊn(t)i/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.74 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A reward for some specific act, especially one given by an authority or a government.
Countable
noun
A reward for some specific act, especially one given by an authority or a government.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A reward for some specific act, especially one given by an authority or a government.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "[H]is [Henry I, Duke of Guise's] gifts, though conferred for the interest of his ambition, appeared always scattered with an easy bounty."
- "She embraced Elizabeth and said in a voice of half-suppressed emotion, "Farewell, sweet lady, dearest Elizabeth, my beloved and only friend; may heaven, in its bounty, bless and preserve you; may this be the last misfortune that you will ever suffer! Live, and be happy, and make others so.""
- "The enervating character of the climate, combined with the bounty of nature, which supplies the limited wants of the natives, in return for little labor, has from time immemorial produced a population within these zones essentially inefficient as compared with that of the temperate zone."
- "[...] We have given and granted, and by theſe Preſents for Us, Our Heirs, and Succeſſors, do give and grant unto the ſaid Governors of the Bounty of Queen ANNE, for the Augmentation of the Maintenance of the poor Clergy, hereby conſtituted, and their Succeſſors, all the Revenues of Firſt Fruits and yearly perpetual Tenths of all Dignities, Offices, Benefices, and Promotions Spiritual whatſoever, [...]"
- "That in this age of boasted liberality, of peculiar Christian effort, of enlightened intelligence, and, let us add, in this free Commonwealth, the church should not be allowed to receive, use, control, and appropriate the bounties and charities of its pious friends, which accompany their prayers for her prosperity, we confess has not a little alarmed and astonished us."
- "Let us therefore conſider ſeparately the encouraging of exportation of corn by bounties, the allowing it to be exported without any bounty, and the prohibiting it to be exported at all in certain caſes— [...] It is not for the ſake of the farmer, but for the good of the nation at large, that this bounty [for exporting corn] is granted. The idea is, that it is more adviſeable to have food raiſed at home, than to truſt to other countries for the neceſſaries of life; and the bounty is held out as a temptation to the farmer, to induce him to raiſe at leaſt a ſufficiency of corn."
Etymology
From Middle English bounte (“goodness, virtue; beauty; strength; chivalry, valour; excellence; kindness, mercy; good deed; generosity”) [and other forms], borrowed from Anglo-Norman bounté and Old French bonté, bontet, bunté (modern French bonté (“goodness, kindness”)), from Latin bonitās.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: bounte, bounté, bonté, bonitās
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈbaʊn(t)i/
- British English: /ˈbaʊnti/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
Frequently Paired Words
Synonyms
liberality
munificence
bounteousness
bountihood
boon
gratuity
put a bounty on someone's head
put a price on someone's head