bestowal C2+ Topic:Ethics & Social Judgment US /bɪˈstoʊəl/ UK /bɪˈstəʊəl/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun the act of conferring or giving something, especially an honor The bestowal of the medal moved the veteran to tears. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · the act of conferring or... conferralgrantawardgiftpresentationdonation ↔ Opposites withdrawalwithholding Word family Related forms bestowstow Etymology AI details From bestow + -al; bestow from Middle English bistowen, from be- + stow ('place'), from Old English stōw ('place'). be- Old English stōw Old English View etymology graph -> Topics Ethics & Social Judgment Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # bestowal **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /bɪˈstoʊəl/ **IPA (UK):** /bɪˈstəʊəl/ ## Meanings 1. the act of conferring or giving something, especially an honor ## Examples - The bestowal of the medal moved the veteran to tears. ## Synonyms - conferral - grant - award - gift - presentation - donation ## Antonyms - withdrawal - withholding ## Related Forms - bestow - stow ## Roots and Affixes - Root: be- - Root: stōw ## Etymology From bestow + -al; bestow from Middle English bistowen, from be- + stow ('place'), from Old English stōw ('place'). ## AI Etymology Bestowal comes from bestow + -al; bestow from Middle English bistowen, from be- + stow ('place'), from Old English stōw ('place'). The historical trail runs through be- in Old English and stōw in Old English. Morphologically, bestowal is transparent: it draws on bestow + -al. Used as a noun, bestowal now means "the act of conferring or giving something, especially an honor", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in related forms such as bestow and stow. The modern word remains analyzable through its parts, which makes the semantic connection unusually direct. ## Topics - Ethics & Social Judgment - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown