awarded

EN
verb

🇺🇸

/əˈwɔːrdɪd/

🇺🇸

/əˈwɔːrdɪd/

🇬🇧

/əˈwɔːrdɪd/

🇬🇧

/əˈwɔːrdɪd/

Word Forms

Past Tense

awarded

Past Participle

awarded

Gerund

awarding

3rd Person

awards

Description

Awarded is the past tense and past participle of 'award', meaning officially given something valuable—like a prize, contract, scholarship, or legal compensation—as a result of merit, judgment, or decision. Think of a judge handing down a verdict, a panel announcing a Nobel winner, or a university granting financial aid: all involve being 'awarded'.

Examples

She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for her groundbreaking novels.

The construction company was awarded the contract after submitting the strongest bid.

He was awarded $2 million in damages following the lawsuit.

The film was awarded three Oscars at the ceremony.

Every year, the university awards scholarships to top-performing students.

Root

ward

Comes from Old English 'weard', meaning 'guard', 'protection', or 'watch'. It evolved to denote 'a person or thing placed under protection or care', and later extended to 'something granted or bestowed' (as in 'ward', 'warranty', 'reward'). In 'award', the prefix 'a-' (from Old English 'on' or 'an', meaning 'on' or 'to') combines with 'ward' to form 'on-ward' → 'to give into protection/custody' → 'to grant officially'. Examples include award, ward, reward, regard, warranty, safeguard.