Etymology From Middle English guerdon, guerdoun, gardone, from Old French guerdon, guerredon, guarredon, werdon, from Medieval Latin widerdōnum, alteration of widerlōnum, from West Germanic (whence Old High German widarlōn, Old English wiþerlēan), literally ‘back-payment’, with the second element assimilated to Latin dōnum (“gift”).
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Literary A reward, prize or recompense for a service; an accolade.
For would she of her gentlenesse, Withouten more, me ones kesse, It were to me a great guerdoon. Release of all my passion […]c. 1366, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Romaunt of the Rose, ll. 2607-10:
Is this the guerdon wherewithall ye quite my fruitfulnesse? Is this the honor that ye gave for my plenteousnesse And dutie done with true intent?1567, Ovid, “The Seconde Booke”, in Arthur Golding, transl., The XV. Bookes of P. Ouidius Naso, Entytuled Metamorphosis, […], London: […] Willyam Seres […], →OCLC, lines 361–63:
4 more examples
Done to death by slanderous tongues Was the Hero that here lies: Death, in guerdon of her wrongs, Gives her fame which never dies.1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]:
He hearkned, and did stay from further harmes, To gayne so goodly guerdon, as she spake […]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto XV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise (That last infirmity of noble mind) To scorn delights and live laborious days; But the fair guerdon when we hope to find, And think to burst out into sudden blaze, Comes the blind Fury with th'abhorred shears, And slits the thin-spun life.1637 (date written; published 1638), John Milton, “Lycidas”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC:
Verse, like the laurel its immortal meed, Should be the guerdon of a noble deed1782, William Cowper, “Charity”, in Poems by William Cowper, of the Inner Temple, Esq.:
guerdon
verb
Etymology From Middle English guerdon, guerdoun, gardone, from Old French guerdon, guerredon, guarredon, werdon, from Medieval Latin widerdōnum, alteration of widerlōnum, from West Germanic (whence Old High German widarlōn, Old English wiþerlēan), literally ‘back-payment’, with the second element assimilated to Latin dōnum (“gift”).
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To give such a reward to.
And when thou see'st the Admiral ride by, Discharge thy musket, and perform his death; And then I'll guerdon thee with store of crowns.1593, Christopher Marlowe, The Massacre at Paris, I:ii:
[…] him we gave a costly bribe To guerdon silence […]1847, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, The Princess, Book I: