the.com/stipend
Money that sounds noble so you won't notice it's not actually a salary.
means A fixed, modest sum of money paid regularly to cover living costs — often for interns, clergy, students, or trainees — rather than wages tied to hours or output.
from From Latin 'stipendium,' a soldier's pay, itself built from 'stips' (a small coin or contribution) and 'pendere' (to weigh or pay out — coins were literally weighed before standardized minting). So the word's bones are 'weighed-out small change,' which makes its modern use for underwhelming paychecks almost too fitting.
- etymology
- from Latin stips, meaning small payment or gift
- tax status
- often untaxed, which is how schools justify underpaying you
- common use
- grad students, interns, clergy — all professionally underpaid
- psychology
- feels like a gift, spends like rent money, never enough