guerdon
/ˈɡəː.dən/
"guerdon" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“guerdon” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A reward, prize or recompense for a service; an accolade.
Corpus desk
Index EN-guerdon · guerdon · English
guerdon · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "G" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | guerdon |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɡəː.dən/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “guerdon” in English
Rare enough to double-check
guerdon is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɡəː.dən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A reward, prize or recompense for a service; an accolade.".
guerdon has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English guerdon, guerdoun, gardone, from Old French guerdon, guerredon, guarredon, werdon, from Medieval Latin widerdōnum, alteration of widerlōnum, from West Germanic (whence Old High German widarlōn, Old English wiþerlēan), literally ‘back-pay… The correct English form is guerdon, spelled G-U-E-R-D-O-N.
Definition
- 1A reward, prize or recompense for a service; an accolade.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how guerdon appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
For would she of her gentlenesse, Withouten more, me ones kesse, It were to me a great guerdoon. Release of all my passion […]
Is this the guerdon wherewithall ye quite my fruitfulnesse? Is this the honor that ye gave for my plenteousnesse And dutie done with true intent?
Etymology
From Middle English guerdon, guerdoun, gardone, from Old French guerdon, guerredon, guarredon, werdon, from Medieval Latin widerdōnum, alteration of widerlōnum, from West Germanic (whence Old High German widarlōn, Old English wiþerlēan), literally ‘back-payment’, with the second element assimilated to Latin dōnum (“gift”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.