Etymologically
Log in

bonus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 01:42. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈbəʊ.nəs/, US /ˈboʊ.nəs/[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin bonus (“good”), used in place of the neuter noun bonum “a good thing”,[2][3][4] probably first as a joke or by mistake in the slang of the London Stock Exchange.[2][4] Weekley called it “Stock Exchange Latin”.[5] The Latin adjective is from Old Latin duenos,[2] from Proto-Italic *dw-eno-, probably from Proto-Indo-European *deu- (“to do, perform; show favour”).[5] It is related to bounty, bonny and boon.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Money or a benefit given as a premium or extra pay: 1773 in the OED, Etymonline and Barnhart, 1772 in MWU.[7][5][2][6]

Semantic evolution

An extra dividend paid to shareholders from surplus profits is from 1808,[7][5] and a gratuity paid to workers over their wages from 1863.[7] Figurative uses, something welcome in addition, are from 1813.[7] The verb, to give a bonus to, is from 1886.[7] In United States history the Bonus Army was the veterans of the First World War who marched on Washington in 1932 to demand early payment of their service bonuses.[5]

Timeline

  • 1773 – an extra payment.[7][5]
  • 1808 – an extra dividend.[7][5]
  • 1813 – figurative.[7]
  • 1886 – verb.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Money added to someone's usual pay as a reward.
  2. Something good that is more than was expected.
  3. An extra dividend paid to shareholders.

Word family

  • bonus baby

Usage notes

Bonus, bounty, premium, reward and gratuity all denote a form of extra payment, and bonus usually means money beyond what is normally due, given especially as a reward.[8]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin