Definition

Noun: 1. A fitting reward or recompense: Something given or received as payment, recognition, or deserved compensation for service, merit, or hardship. This term is now chiefly poetic or archaic. 2. A deserved portion or share: The part one is entitled to receive, especially from praise or honor.

Usage

The word "meed" is used to describe a reward that is precisely appropriate or merited. It is not a general term for any reward, but specifically one that is justly earned. It is most commonly found in historical, literary, or poetic contexts.

Examples

• The knight received lands and titles as a meed for his valor in battle.
• In her poem, she speaks of love as the highest meed the heart can desire.
• The old tales promise a rich meed to those who complete the heroic quest.

Advanced Usage

• "To give someone their meed": To give someone the full reward or recognition they deserve.
  • The historian finally gave the unsung inventor his meed of praise.
• Used in formal or rhetorical language to elevate the concept of a just reward.
  • His lifelong dedication to charity was its own meed.

Variants and Related Words

• Meedful (adj, archaic): Deserving of reward; meritorious.
• Meedless (adj, archaic): Undeserving; without merit or reward.

Synonyms

• Reward: Something given in recognition of service, effort, or achievement.
• Recompense: Compensation or payment for something done or suffered.
• Guerdon (literary): A reward or recompense.
• Deserts (as in "just deserts"): What one deserves, especially for punishment or reward.

Idioms and Phrases

• To have one's meed: To receive one's deserved portion, whether of praise, blame, or consequence.
  • The critic was harsh, but the artist felt he had his meed of attention.

Noun

1. a fitting reward