Bounty

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Bounty \Boun"ty\, n.; pl. {Bounties}. [OE. bounte goodness,
     kindness, F. bont['e], fr. L. bonitas, fr. bonus good, for
     older duonus; cf. Skr. duvas honor, respect.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. Goodness, kindness; virtue; worth. [Obs.]
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              Nature set in her at once beauty with bounty.
                                                    --Gower.
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     2. Liberality in bestowing gifts or favors; gracious or
        liberal giving; generosity; munificence.
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              My bounty is as boundless as the sea. --Shak.
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     3. That which is given generously or liberally. "Thy morning
        bounties." --Cowper.
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     4. A premium offered or given to induce men to enlist into
        the public service; or to encourage any branch of
        industry, as husbandry or manufactures.
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     {Bounty jumper}, one who, during the latter part of the Civil
        War, enlisted in the United States service, and deserted
        as soon as possible after receiving the bounty. [Collog.]
        
  
     {Queen Anne's bounty} (Eng. Hist.), a provision made in Queen
        Anne's reign for augmenting poor clerical livings.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: Munificence; generosity; beneficence.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  bounty
       n 1: payment or reward (especially from a government) for acts
            such as catching criminals or killing predatory animals
            or enlisting in the military [syn: {premium}]
       2: the property of copious abundance [syn: {amplitude}, {bountifulness}]
       3: generosity evidenced by a willingness to give freely [syn: {bounteousness}]
       4: a ship of the British navy; in 1789 part of the crew
          mutineed against their commander William Bligh and set him
          afloat in an open boat [syn: {H.M.S. Bounty}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  101 Moby Thesaurus words for "bounty":
     Trinkgeld, aid, alimony, allotment, allowance, annuity, assistance,
     award, beneficence, bigheartedness, bonus, bonus system,
     bounteousness, bountifulness, bribe, charitableness, charity,
     consideration, depletion allowance, dole, donative, double time,
     easy purse strings, endowment, fee, fellowship,
     financial assistance, free hand, freedom, freehandedness,
     freeheartedness, freeness, fringe benefit, generosity,
     generousness, gift, givingness, goodness, graciousness, grant,
     grant-in-aid, gratuity, gravy, grease, great heart,
     greatheartedness, guaranteed annual income, help, honorarium,
     hospitality, incentive pay, inducement, lagniappe,
     largeheartedness, largeness, largess, largesse, liberality,
     liberalness, magnanimity, munificence, old-age insurance,
     open hand, open heart, openhandedness, openheartedness,
     overtime pay, palm oil, pecuniary aid, pension, perks, perquisite,
     perquisites, philanthropy, pourboire, premium, present,
     price support, public assistance, public welfare, relief,
     retirement benefits, reward, salve, scholarship, solatium,
     something extra, sportula, stipend, subsidization, subsidy,
     subvention, support, sweetener, tax benefit, tip, unselfishness,
     welcome, welfare, welfare aid, welfare payments
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  BOUNTY. A sum of money or other thing, given, generally by' the government, 
  to certain persons, for some service they have done or are about to do to 
  the public. As bounty upon the culture of silk; the bounty given to an 
  enlisted soldier; and the like. It differs from a reward, which is 
  generally applied to particular cases; and from a payment, as there is no 
  contract on the part of the receiver of the bounty. 
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  BOUNTY, n.  The liberality of one who has much, in permitting one who
  has nothing to get all that he can.
  
          A single swallow, it is said, devours ten millions of insects
      every year.  The supplying of these insects I take to be a signal
      instance of the Creator's bounty in providing for the lives of His
      creatures.
                                                      Henry Ward Beecher