The noun is derived from Late Middle English stipend, stipende [and other forms], from Old French stipende, stipendie, from Latin stīpendium, from *stipipendium, *stippendium, from stips (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steyp-) + pendere (the present active infinitive of pendō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend-) + -ium.

The verb is derived from the noun.

• Italian stipendio
• Portuguese estipendio
• Spanish estipendio

• (RP) IPA: /ˈstaɪpɛnd/, /-pn̩d/
• (America) IPA: /ˈstaɪˌpɛnd/, /-pənd/

stipend (plural stipends)

1. (archaic) A regular fixed payment made to someone (especially a clergyman, judge, soldier, or teacher) for services provided by them; a salary. [from 15th c.]
   • 1579, Plutarke of Chæronea [i.e., Plutarch], “The Life of Alexander the Great”, in Thomas North, transl., The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romaines, […], London: […] Richard Field, →OCLC ↗, page 725 ↗:

     He ſent for Ariſtotle (the greateſt Philoſopher in his time, & beſt learned) to teach his ſonne, vnto vvhom he gaue honorable ſtipend.

   • 1595, Ed. Spencer [i.e., Edmund Spenser], Colin Clouts Come Home Againe, London: […] T[homas] C[reede] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC ↗, signature D3, recto ↗:

     For Cynthia doth in ſciences abound, / And giues to their profeſſors ſtipends large.

   • 1653, Jer[emy] Taylor, “[XXV Sermons Preached at Golden Grove: Being for the Winter Half-year, […].] Sermon III. [Dooms-day Book: Or, Christ’s Advent to Judgment.] Part III.”, in ΕΝΙΑΥΤΟΣ [Eniautos]. A Course of Sermons for All the Sundays of the Year. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Richard Royston […], published 1655, →OCLC ↗, page 35 ↗:

     A man can never vviſh for any thing greater then this immortality, […] It is the gift [o]f God; a donative beyond the ὀψώνιον, the military ſtipend, it is beyond our vvork, and beyond our vvages, and beyond the promiſe, and beyond our thoughts, and above our underſtandings, and above the higheſt heavens, it is a participation of the joyes of God, and of the inheritance of the Judge himſelf.

   • 1670, John Milton, “The Third Book”, in The History of Britain, that Part Especially now Call'd England. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for James Allestry, […] , →OCLC ↗, page 112 ↗:

     [Hengist] ſends vvord home, inviting others to a ſhare of his good ſucceſs. VVho returning vvith 17 Ships, vvere grovvn up novv to a ſufficient Army, and entertain'd vvithout ſuſpicion on theſe terms, that they ſhould bear the brunt of VVar againſt the Picts, receaving ſtipend and ſome place to inhabit.

   • 1787, Robert Burns, “The Ordination”, in Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. […], 2nd edition, volume I, Edinburgh: […] T[homas] Cadell, […], and William Creech, […], published 1793, →OCLC ↗, stanza V, page 89 ↗:

     That Stipend is a carnal vveed / He takes but for the faſhion; / And gie him o'er the flock, to feed, / And puniſh each tranſgreſſion; […]

   • 1818 July 24, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter VII, in Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Company, →OCLC ↗, page 195 ↗:

     What have I been paying stipend and teind parsonage and vicarage for, ever sin' the aughty-nine, an' I canna get a spell of a prayer for't, the only time I ever asked for ane in my life?

   • 1851, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XXII, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume IV, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC ↗, page 780 ↗:

     But by far the most important event of this short session was the passing of the Act for the settling of Schools. By this memorable law it was, in the Scotch phrase, statuted and ordained that every parish in the realm should provide a commodious schoolhouse and should pay a moderate stipend to a schoolmaster.

   • 1855, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “[Sketches in Paris in 1825: From the Travelling Note-book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.] The Parisian Hotel.”, in Wolfert’s Roost and Other Papers, […], New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam & Co., […], →OCLC ↗, page 194 ↗:

     The porter and his wife act as domestics to such of the inmates of the mansion as do not keep servants; making their beds, arranging their rooms, lighting their fires, and doing other menial offices, for which they receive a monthly stipend.

2. (by extension)
   1. Some other form of fixed (and generally small) payment occurring at regular intervals, such as an allowance, a pension, or (obsolete) a tax. [from 16th c.]

      Coordinate term: pocket money

      My stipend for doing public service is barely enough to cover living expenses.

      • 1544 (date written; published 1571), Roger Ascham, Toxophilus, the Schole, or Partitions, of Shooting. […], London: […] Thomas Marshe, →OCLC ↗; republished in The English Works of Roger Ascham, […], London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley, […], and J[ohn] Newbery, […], 1761, →OCLC ↗, book 2, page 147 ↗:

        The Romaynes, […] appointed alſo the Cenſores to allovv out of the common butche^{[sic – meaning hutche]} yearely ſtipendes, for the findings of certaine geeſe; […]

      • 1607, Edward Topsell, “Of the Elephant”, in The Historie of Fovre-footed Beastes. […], London: […] William Iaggard, →OCLC ↗, page 200 ↗:

        [T]here vvas no meane prince in all India vvhich vvas not Lord of many Elephants. The king of Palibotræ kept in ſtipend, eight thouſand euery day, […]

      • 1766, William Blackstone, “Of Title by Gift, Grant, and Contract”, in Commentaries on the Laws of England, book II (Of the Rights of Things), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC ↗, page 454 ↗:

        [H]iring is alvvays for a price, a ſtipend, or additional recompenſe; borrovving is merely gratuitous. But the lavv in both caſes is the ſame. They are both contracts, vvhereby the poſſeſſion and a tranſient property is transferred for a particular time or uſe, on condition and agreement to reſtore the goods ſo hired or borrovved, as ſoon as the time is expired or uſe performed; together vvith the price or ſtipend (in caſe of hiring) either expreſſly agreed on by the parties, or left to be implied by lavv according to the value of the ſervice.

      • 1783 June 25, Edmund Burke, “Ninth Report from the Select Committee (of the House of Commons) Appointed to Take into Consideration the State of the Administration of Justice in the Provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, […]. British Government in India.”, in [Walker King], editor, The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, new edition, volume XI, London: […] [R. Gilbert] for C[harles] and J[ohn] Rivington, […], published 1826, →OCLC ↗, page 260 ↗:

        Mr. [Warren] Hastings, in his letter to Mr. Wheler, urges the necessity of the monthly payment of the Nabob's stipend being regularly made; […] From hence Your Committee conclude, that the monthly payments had not been regularly made; and that whatever distresses the Nabob might have suffered must have been owing to the Governour-General and Council, not to Mahomed Reza Khân; who, for aught that appears to the contrary, paid away the stipend as fast as he received it.

      • 1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, “Wherein Mr. Ralph Nickleby is Visited by Persons with Whom the Reader has been Already Made Acquainted”, in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1839, →OCLC ↗, page 324 ↗:

        Mr. Mantalini waited with much decorum to hear the amount of the proposed stipend, but when it reached his ears, he cast his hat and cane upon the floor, and drawing out his pocket-handkerchief, gave vent to his feelings in a dismal moan.

      • 1848 December 18, Charles Dickens, “The Gift Bestowed”, in The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain. A Fancy for Christmas-time, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], →OCLC ↗, page 24 ↗:

        [W]e took a liking for his very picter that hangs in what used to be, anciently, afore our ten poor gentlemen commuted for an annual stipend in money, our great Dinner Hall.

   2. (education) A scholarship granted to a student. [from 20th c.]
3. (obsolete)
   1. Money which is earned; an income. [17th c.]
      • 1604 (first performance), George Chapman, Al Fooles: A Comedy, […], London: […] [George Eld] for Thomas Thorpe, published 1605, →OCLC ↗, Act I ↗:

        And that knights competency you haue gotten / VVith care and labour: he vvith luſt and idleneſſe / VVill bring into the ſtypend of a begger; […]

   2. A one-off payment for a service provided. [16th–19th c.]
      • 1549 April 29 (Gregorian calendar), Hugh Latimer, “Sermon XI. Being the Seventh Sermon Preached before King Edward VI. April the Nineteenth.”, in The Sermons of the Right Reverend Father in God, Master Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester. […], volume I, London: […] J. Scott, […], published 1758, →OCLC ↗, page 210 ↗:

        ["H]e [Jesus] vvas man, he took upon him our ſins;" Not the vvork of ſin, I mean not ſo, not to do it, not to commit it, but to purge it, to cleanſe it, to bear the ſtipend of it: […]

        The spelling has been modernized.

      • 1614, Walter Ralegh [i.e., Walter Raleigh], “The Growth of Rome: And Setling of the Easterne Kingdomes”, in The Historie of the World […], London: […] William Stansby for Walter Burre, […], →OCLC ↗, 4th book, §. I (How the Romans Enlarged Their Dominion in Italie, from the Death of Tullus Hostilius, vnto such Time as They were Assailed by Pyrrhus), page 294 ↗:

        This fight vvas ſo vvell performed, that a report vvent currant, of Castor and Pollux, tvvo Gods, vvho came on milke-vvhite Steeds, to be eye vvitneſſes of their valour, and fellovv helpers of their victorie; for the Generall conſecrated a Temple to them, as a ſtipend for their paines.

      • 1620, Fra[ncis] Quarles, “Sect[ion] 6”, in A Feast for Wormes. Set Forth in a Poeme of the History of Ionah, London: […] Felix Kyngston, for Richard Moore, […], →OCLC ↗, signature F3, recto ↗:

        Lo, Death is novv, as alvvayes it hath bin, / The iuſt procured ſtipend of our ſinne: […]

        A reference to Romans 6:23 in the Vulgate version of the Bible: “stipendia enim peccati mors [for the wages of sin is death]”.

      • 1620, Fra[ncis] Quarles, “Pentelogia: Or The Quintessence of Meditation. 4. Gloria Cœli.”, in A Feast for Wormes. Set Forth in a Poeme of the History of Ionah, London: […] Felix Kyngston, for Richard Moore, […], →OCLC ↗, signature [O2], recto ↗:

        No Theft, no Cruell Murther harbours there, / No Hoary-headed-Care, ſudden Feare, / No pinching VVant, no (Griping faſt) Oppreſſion, / Nor Death, the ſtipend of our ſoule Tranſgreſſion: […]

      • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Exercise Rectified of Body and Minde”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC ↗, partition 2, section 2, member 4, page 226 ↗:

        Many Gentlemen in like ſort vvith vs, vvill vvade vp to the Armeholes vpon ſuch occaſions [when fishing], and voluntarily vndertake that to ſatisfie their pleaſure, vvhich a poore man for a good ſtipend vvould ſcarce be hired to vndergoe.

      • 1642 April, John Milton, An Apology for Smectymnuus; republished in A Complete Collection of the Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous Works of John Milton, […], volume I, Amsterdam [actually London: s.n.], 1698, →OCLC ↗, page 195 ↗:

        Hovv can vve believe ye vvould refuſe to take the ſtipend of Rome, vvhen ye ſhame not to live upon the alms-basket of her prayers?

• stipendiarian (rare)
• stipendiarist (rare)
• stipendiary
• stipendiate (archaic or obsolete)

• French: rente, pension, solde, salaire
• German: Stipendium, Besoldung, Gehalt
• Italian: stipendio, onorario, paga, paghetta, salario
• Portuguese: estipêndio
• Russian: посо́бие
• Spanish: estipendio, salario, semanada (weekly)

• French: bourse
• Russian: стипе́ндия

stipend (stipends, present participle stipending; simple past and past participle stipended)

1. (transitive, obsolete or historical) To provide (someone) with a stipend (an allowance, a pension, a salary, etc.). [from 16th c.]
   • 1620, [Miguel de Cervantes], Thomas Shelton, transl., “How Sancho Demeaned Himselfe in His Gouernment”, in The Second Part of the History of the Valorous and Witty Knight-errant, Don Quixote of the Mancha. […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press] for Edward Blount, →OCLC ↗, page 306 ↗:

     I, Sir, am a Phyſician, and am ſtipended in this Iland to bee ſo to the Gouernours of it: and I am much more carefull of their health, then of mine ovvn; ſtudying night & day, and vveighing the complexion of the Gouernour, that I may hit the better vpon the curing him, vvhenſoeuer hee falls ſicke: […]