reguerdon

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman reguerdoner (“to reward”), from re- + guerdoner (“to guerdon”), 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”).

Why this word is great

REGUERDON — [Verb] To recompense or reward someone. From Anglo-Norman reguerdoner ("to reward"), from re- ("again") + guerdoner ("to guerdon"), from Medieval Latin widerdōnum (alteration of widerlōnum), from West Germanic *widarlōn (literally 'back-payment'), with the second element assimilated to Latin dōnum ("gift"). Unlike "compensate" (which settles accounts) or "remunerate" (which tallies wages), "reguerdon" lingers in the realm of chivalry and grace—a knight’s gold clasp for a deed of valor, a poet’s laurel for verses well-wrought, or the quiet, unspoken debt repaid when one kindness begets another. It is reciprocity with a whisper of the divine.

verb

To recompense or reward.“Long since we were resolved of your truth, / Your faithful service and your toil in war; / Yet never have you tasted our reward, / Or been reguerdon'd with so much as thanks.”

noun

A recompense or reward.“Stoop then and set your knee against my foot; / And, in reguerdon of that duty done, / I girt thee with the valiant sword of York.”