gratuity

Etymology

It is borrowed from French gratuité, recorded in French from the 14th century,^[2][3][4][5] or directly borrowed from Medieval Latin grātuitās (“free gift”),^[2][3][6][7] probably from Latin grātuītus (“freely given, voluntary”),^[4][3][6] from grātus (“pleasing, thankful”),^[3][6][8] related to grātia (“favor”),^[2][3] and traced by Etymonline to Proto-Indo-European *gwere- (“to favor”).^[3] Merriam-Webster analyses the French word as grātuītus with the suffix -té.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Graciousness, favour, often of divine grace: 1523, King Henry VIII, in Strype's Ecclesiastical Memorials.^[2][6][9] The SOED and the Oxford Dictionary of English put the word in the late 15th century.^[10][8]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, graciousness or favour, was given up in the 17th century according to the OED,^[2][10] although Merriam-Webster still lists it, with a quotation from Elizabeth Bowen.^[9] Beside it the word came to mean a gift, usually of money, often in return for favours or services: from 1540 in the OED and Barnhart, by the 1530s in Etymonline.^[2][6][3] The word could also carry the negative sense of a bribe.^[2] Other uses were short-lived: a gratuitous concession (before 1575–1642), gratitude or recompense (1614–60), and payment or wages (before 1637–1832).^[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as "a present or acknowledgment; a free gift".^[11] The specific sense of a tip for a service is recorded from 1752,^[2] and a bounty paid to soldiers from 1804, in Wellington.^[2] The sense "gratuitousness" is rare, from 1858 in Hawthorne.^[2][10]

Timeline

• 1523 – graciousness, favour.^[2][6]
• 1540 – a gift, usually of money, often for favours or services.^[2][6] Etymonline dates it by the 1530s.^[3]
• before 1575 – a gratuitous concession (last recorded 1642).^[2]
• 1614 – gratitude, recompense (last recorded 1660).^[2]
• before 1637 – payment, wages (last recorded 1832).^[2]
• 1752 – a sum given as a reward for a service; a tip.^[2]
• 1804 – a bounty for soldiers on re-enlistment, retirement or discharge.^[2]
• 1858 – gratuitousness.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sum of money given for a service; a tip: The hotel adds a gratuity to large bills.^[12][2][9]
2. Something given freely or beyond what is due; a gift.^[12][9][2]
3. (chiefly British) A cash sum paid to a member of the armed forces on re-enlistment, retirement or discharge.^[9][12][2]
4. Graciousness of manner; a graceful act of courtesy.^[9]
5. (rare) Gratuitousness.^[2][10]
6. (obsolete, 1523–1646) Favour, especially divine grace.^[2][10]
7. (obsolete, 1637–1832) Payment, wages.^[2][10]

Related words

• gratis
• gratuitous
• grace
• grateful
• gratitude

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins