bounty
(ˈbaʊntɪ)
Forms: 4 bunte, bwnte, 4–6 bonte, bounte, bountee, 5 bount, bownte, 5–6 bontie, 6 Sc. bontay, 6–7 bountie, -ye, 6– bounty.
[a. OF. bontet:—L. bonitāt-em goodness.]
† 1. a. Of persons: Goodness in general, worth, virtue; in pl. virtues, excellences; also excellent condition, high estate. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 10086 Þis leuedi lele, Þat buntes in hir bar sa fele. 1375 Barbour Bruce ii. 48 Neuir..man sa hard sted as wes he, That eftirwart com to sic bounte. c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 359 Publissched was the bounte of hir name..in many a regioun. c 1440 Partonope 4525 Bount, mercy, and eke mekenesse. 1485 Caxton Chas. Gt. 238 Thou knowest what I haue doon for the bounte that is in the. 1513 Douglas æneis xiii. ii. 152 The gret Enee Quhilk in excelland vertu and bonte Excedyt all the remanent a far way. 1623 Drummond of Hawthornden Cypress Grove Wks. (1711) 127 He is only the true and essential Bounty, so is He the only essential and true Beauty. |
† b. Warlike prowess, valour;
rarely, a deed of valour.
Obs.| c 1330 Amis & Amil. 5 Twoo barons of grete bounte. 1375 Barbour Bruce iii. 132 He thocht..To do ane owtrageouss bounte. a 1400 Morte Arth. (Roxb.) 5 Off alle þe world the beste knight Off biaute and of bounte. c 1430 Syr Gener. 9828 His bountie fel fast to ground. 1485 Caxton Paris & V. 22 What honour is comen to me by hys prowesse and by his bounte. c 1530 Ld. Berners Arthur 243 For he is the chefe floure of bounte in all maner of chyvalry. |
† 2. Of things: Good quality or property, worth, excellence, virtue.
Obs.| c 1300 Beket 1031 Gold ne passeth noȝt in Bounte so moche Leode. c 1314 Guy Warw. (A.) 825 He schal bring to þe turment þat day..a stede of gret bounte. c 1450 Lonelich Grail xlvii. 21 Kamalot..was of sweche bownte that alle kinges weren crowned þere sekerle. 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. Pref., The bountie of the same cronycles, in whom are conteygned the warres of these parties..encorageth me. 1531 Elyot Gov. ii. vii. (1557) 104 Noryshyng meates and drynkes in a sycke body doe lose their bountee. 1592 W. Wyrley Armorie 152 By his coursers bountie sir Hue Chatelon Was savd. |
† 3. Kindness, beneficence; an act of kindness, a good turn (sometimes
ironical).
Obs.| a 1300 Cursor M. 12501/2 Quar-for..To þis dedman þat hight als þou, Ne dos þou grace o bunte nan? 1330 R. Brunne Chron. 266 For Edward gode dede Þe Baliol did him mede a wikked bounte. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶451 Agayn wikked dede of his enemy, he shal doon hym bountee. c 1450 Merlin xii. 181 And she hym asked what bounte it was that she hadde hym don. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 160/2 He remembryd euyl the bountee that he did to hym. 1651 Proc. Parliament No. 92. 1407 Christ came the neerest to him [Peter] in a miraculous bounty. |
4. a. Goodness shown in giving, gracious liberality, munificence: usually attributed to God, or to the great and wealthy, who have it in their power to give largely and liberally.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 9531 To quam ilkan he gaf sum-thing Of his might and of his bounte. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 137 For her bounte and goodnesse, God hath shewed mani miracles for her. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apophth. 215 a, Bountie and largesse is befallyng for kynges. 1579 Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 40 The honourable bountye of a noble minde. 1611 Dekker Roar. Girle Wks. 1873 III. 141 When bounty spreades the table, faith t'were sinne (at going of) if thankes should not step in. 1750 Johnson Rambl. No. 17 ¶4 Every other satisfaction which the bounty of Providence has scattered over life. 1839 Thirlwall Greece VII. 207 The royal liberality of his nature, which delighted in acts of bounty. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. iv. 302 Many of these people..were dependent on his bounty. |
b. An act of generosity, a thing generously bestowed; a boon, gift, gratuity.
| c 1250 O.E. Misc. 36 For þise griate bunte þet ure lord yefþ. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xiv. 150 Men doth hym other bounte, Ȝyueth hym a cote aboue his couenaunte. 1513 Douglas æneis viii. Prol. 140 Sum [langis] for thar bonty or bone. 1602 Return fr. Parnass. ii. i. (Arb.) 21 Here is..foure pence your due, and eight pence my bounty. 1679–88 Secr. Serv. M. Chas. II & Jas. II (1851) 68 To Coll{supd} Morrice Kingwell, bounty {pstlg}100 0 0. 1725 De Foe Voy. Round World (1840) 103, I gave a largess or bounty of five dollars a man. 1878 Morley Diderot I. 289 The Empress added a handsome bounty to the bargain. |
5. esp. a. A gift bestowed by the sovereign personally, or by the state.
Queen Anne's Bounty: see
quots.| 1708 Royal Procl. in Lond. Gaz. No. 4504/1 All such Seamen..shall Receive as our free Gift and Royal Bounty, the respective Rewards and Allowances following. |
| 1704 Off. Notice in Lond. Gaz. No. 4077/4 The Governors of the Bounty of Queen Anne, for the Augmentation of the Maintenance of the Poor Clergy. 1707 Ibid. No. 4323/3 A General Court of..the Bounty of Queen Anne. 1768 Blackstone Comm. I. 286 To this end she granted her royal charter..whereby all the revenue of first-fruits and tenths is vested in trustees for ever, to form a perpetual fund for the augmentation of poor livings. This is usually called queen Anne's bounty. |
b. A gratuity given to recruits on joining the army or navy; also as a reward to soldiers.
| 1702 Royal Procl. in Lond. Gaz. No. 3821/2 Such who shall Desert any of Our Ships of War, in Order to obtain Our intended Bounty. 1801 Bloomfield Rural T. (1802) 52 Employment fail'd, and poverty was come; The Bounty tempted me. 1833 Marryat P. Simple (1863) 119 On his arrival at Gibraltar, he had been offered and had received the bounty. 1873 Act 36 & 37 Vict. lxxvii. §8 Out of any bounty or pay receivable by him. |
c. A sum of money paid to merchants or manufacturers for the encouragement of some particular branch of industry.
| 1719 W. Wood Surv. Trade 150 Whatever shall be paid the Northern Colonies as a Bounty at first, to enter heartily and chearfully upon the doing of this. 1776 Adam Smith W.N. I. i. xi. 207 In 1688 was granted the Parliamentary bounty upon the exportation of corn. Ibid. II. iv. v. 99 Bounties are sometimes called premiums. 1817 Babington in Parl. Deb. 762 The evils..arising from creating manufactures by means of a bounty from Government. 1852 M{supc}Culloch Dict. Comm. 1255 The existing bounties (draw⁓backs) on refined British colonial sugar are specified in the 11 & 12 Vict. c. 97. |
d. A reward offered for the scalp of an American Indian, or for the body of a wanted criminal taken dead or alive. Now
Hist. N. Amer.| 1764 J. Penn in Pennsylvania Archives 4th Ser. (1900) III. Papers of Governors 292, I do..promise, that there shall be paid..the following several and respective premiums and Bounties for the prisoners and Scalps of the Enemy Indians that shall be taken or killed. 1886 Morley Crit. Misc. I 110 The grandson of William Penn proclaimed a bounty of fifty dollars for the scalp of a female Indian, and three times as much for a male. 1929 H. G. Evarts Tomahawk Rights xii. 224 Twas the very settlers from hereabouts that..forced Pennsylvania to put a bounty on all Injun scalps. 1947 R. Santee Apache Land iii. 34 The Mexican States offered a bounty for Apache scalps. 1970 D. Brown Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee ii. 25 The Spanish, French, Dutch, and English colonists made the custom [sc. scalping] popular by offering bounties for scalps of their respective enemies. |
e. A sum of money paid for the scalp (pelt, etc.) of each animal of a particular (
usu. dangerous) species killed. Chiefly
N. Amer.| 1847, etc. [see scalp n.1 2 c]. 1912 Oregonian (Portland) 20 Oct. 5/7 Indians and others make good wages killing young coyotes and selling the pelts for bounty. 1919 C. G. Abbott Friends & Foes of Wild Life 5 Under present conditions in New York State..the institution of a bounty system would be of little..benefit. 1954 W. R. Eadie Animal Control 80 Many states pay bounties on bobcats. 1979 W. Ashworth Carson Factor vi. 61 The bounty system spread across the nation..reaching Oregon in 1840... The first modern bounty law was passed in 1909, and during..four years nearly ninety-two thousand coyotes were slaughtered. |
f. transf. and
fig. A premium or reward.
| 1868 M. Pattison Academ. Org. 62 Scholarships..are become a bounty upon a privileged species of education. |
g. King's (or Queen's) bounty: a sum of money given from the royal purse to a mother who has given birth to three or more children at once.
| 1872 Porcupine 8 June 156/1 Frenchwomen are seldom recipients of the Queen's bounty. 1910 Encycl. Brit. IV. 324/2 King's Bounty. 1939 Times Lit. Suppl. 18 Mar. 162/3 Here, too, are..‘quins’ and the King's Bounty. |
6. attrib. and
Comb., as
bounty-money;
bounty-broker (see
quot.);
bounty-fed, supported and encouraged by bounties;
bounty-hunter N. Amer. (now
Hist.), a person who pursues wanted criminals, etc., for the sake of rewards offered;
bounty-jumper,
U.S. (see
quot.);
bountyless, without bounty.
| 1864 Sala in Daily Tel. 9 Aug., A *bounty-broker is simply a crimp, or what the recruiting sergeants in Charles-street, Westminster, call a ‘bringer’. |
| 1884 Sat. Rev. 14 June 781/1 A countervailing duty upon *bounty-fed sugar. |
| 1930 U.S. Dept. Agric. Official Rec. 27 Mar. 7/2 The arrest of these dishonest *bounty hunters has broken up the activities of thieves in the State [of Washington]. 1954 E. Leonard Bounty Hunters vi. 45 Duro studied the bounty hunter silently. Within him he could feel the hatred for this man. 1964 L. Cochran Wilderness vi. 53 All but the leader [sc. a wolf] had met their death by eating poisoned baits set by bounty hunters. 1984 Listener 14 June 37/4 Fonda is an ageing bounty-hunter who brings a corpse in for the inexperienced sheriff. |
| 1875 Higginson Hist. U.S. 306 Bringing into the service many ‘*bounty-jumpers’..who enlisted merely for money, and soon deserted to enlist again. |
| 1864 Daily Tel. 9 Sept., His conscripts, *bountyless as they may be, will have to be paid. |
| 1692 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) II. 524 Letters from Torbay say that they were distributing the *bounty money. 1863 Cornh. Mag. Mar. 443 The kit is no longer to be paid for out of the bounty-money. |