guerdon
/ˈɡəː.dən/
"guerdon" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“guerdon” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A reward, prize or recompense for a service; an accolade.
| 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) |
Where “guerdon” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for guerdon is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɡəː.dən/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "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.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “guerdon”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-U-E-R-D-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɡəː.dən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.