meed

Meaning

Noun

1. A payment or recompense made for services rendered or in recognition of some achievement; reward, deserts; award.
2. A gift; bribe.
3. Merit or desert; worth.

Verb

1. To reward; bribe.
2. To deserve; merit.

Synonyms

reward

premium

prise

prize

recompense

carrot

🥕

guerdon

award

Pronounced as (IPA)

/miːd/

Etymology

From Middle English meede, mede, from Old English mēd, meord, meard, meorþ (“meed, reward, pay, price, compensation, bribe”), from Proto-West Germanic *miʀdu, from Proto-Germanic *mizdō (“meed”), from Proto-Indo-European *misdʰéh₂, from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“to exchange”).
Cognate with obsolete Dutch miede (“wages”), Low German mede (“payment, wages, reward”), German Miete (“rent”), Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌶𐌳𐍉 (mizdō, “meed, reward, payment, recompense”), Ancient Greek μισθός (misthós, “wage”), Old Church Slavonic мьзда (mĭzda, “reward”), Sanskrit मीळ्ह (mīḷhá), Sanskrit मीढ (mīḍhá), Avestan 𐬨𐬍𐬲𐬛𐬀 (mīžda).