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. 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, Clerkes 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. Drumm. of Hawth., 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, valor; rarely, a deed of valor. 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, Arth. Lyt. Bryt., 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 badly doe lose their bountee.
1592. 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?
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron., 266. For Edward gode dede Þe Baliol did him mede a wikked bounte.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Pers. 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. 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 Collll Morrice Kingwell, bounty £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 gift bestowed by the sovereign personally, or by the state.
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.
a. Queen Anne’s Bounty: see quots.
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. Ibid. (1707), 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. McCulloch, Dict. Comm., 1255. The existing bounties (drawbacks) on refined British colonial sugar are specified in the 11 & 12 Vict. c. 97.
d. transf. and fig. A premium or reward.
1868. M. Pattison, Academ. Org., 62. Scholarships … are become a bounty upon a privileged species of education.
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.
6. Attrib. and Comb., as bounty-money; bounty-broker (see quot.); bounty-fed, supported and encouraged by bounties; bounty-jumper, U.S. (see quot.); bountyless, without bounty.
1864. Sala, in Daily Tel., 9 Aug., 5/3. 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. If we impose a countervailing duty upon *bounty-fed sugar, [etc.].
1875. Higginson, Hist. U. S., 306. Large bounties had to be paid for soldiers, bringing into the service many *‘bounty-jumpers’ … who enlisted merely for money, and soon deserted to enlist again.
1864. Daily Tel., 9 Sept., 5/2. His conscripts, *bountyless as they may be, will have to be paid the thirteen dollars a month which the law allows them.
1692. Luttrell, Brief Rel. (1857), II. 524. Letters from Torbay say that they were distributing the *bounty money.
1863. Cornh. Mag., March, 443. The kit is no longer to be paid for out of the bounty-money.
