Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A favor or gift, usually in the form of money, given in return for service.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In the British service, money paid to soldiers on reënlistment and to good-conduct soldiers on discharge.
  • noun That which is given without claim or demand; a free gift; a donation.
  • noun Synonyms Gift, Donation, etc. See present.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Something given freely or without recompense; a free gift; a present.
  • noun Something voluntarily given in return for a favor or service, as a recompense or acknowledgment.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A reward, service, or payment provided freely, without obligation.
  • noun common usage An additional charge placed for services rendered; see also: service fee.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an award (as for meritorious service) given without claim or obligation
  • noun a relatively small amount of money given for services rendered (as by a waiter)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French gratuité, from Old French gratuite, from Medieval Latin grātuītās, probably from Latin grātuītus, voluntary; see gratuitous.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French gratuite (French gratuité), from Medieval Latin gratuitas ("a free gift"), from Latin gratuitus ("freely given, free"); see gratuitous.

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