The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Bounty \Boun"ty\, n.; pl. Bounties. [OE. bounte goodness,
   kindness, F. bont['e], fr. L. bonitas, fr. bonus good, for
   older duonus; cf. Skr. duvas honor, respect.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. Goodness, kindness; virtue; worth. [Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

            Nature set in her at once beauty with bounty.
                                                  --Gower.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Liberality in bestowing gifts or favors; gracious or
      liberal giving; generosity; munificence.
      [1913 Webster]

            My bounty is as boundless as the sea. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. That which is given generously or liberally. "Thy morning
      bounties." --Cowper.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. A premium offered or given to induce men to enlist into
      the public service; or to encourage any branch of
      industry, as husbandry or manufactures.
      [1913 Webster]

   Bounty jumper, one who, during the latter part of the Civil
      War, enlisted in the United States service, and deserted
      as soon as possible after receiving the bounty. [Collog.]


   Queen Anne's bounty (Eng. Hist.), a provision made in Queen
      Anne's reign for augmenting poor clerical livings.
      [1913 Webster]

   Syn: Munificence; generosity; beneficence.
        [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

bounty
    n 1: payment or reward (especially from a government) for acts
         such as catching criminals or killing predatory animals or
         enlisting in the military [syn: bounty, premium]
    2: the property of copious abundance [syn: amplitude,
       bountifulness, bounty]
    3: generosity evidenced by a willingness to give freely [syn:
       bounty, bounteousness]
    4: a ship of the British navy; in 1789 part of the crew mutinied
       against their commander William Bligh and set him afloat in
       an open boat [syn: Bounty, H.M.S. Bounty]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

101 Moby Thesaurus words for "bounty":
   Trinkgeld, aid, alimony, allotment, allowance, annuity, assistance,
   award, beneficence, bigheartedness, bonus, bonus system,
   bounteousness, bountifulness, bribe, charitableness, charity,
   consideration, depletion allowance, dole, donative, double time,
   easy purse strings, endowment, fee, fellowship,
   financial assistance, free hand, freedom, freehandedness,
   freeheartedness, freeness, fringe benefit, generosity,
   generousness, gift, givingness, goodness, graciousness, grant,
   grant-in-aid, gratuity, gravy, grease, great heart,
   greatheartedness, guaranteed annual income, help, honorarium,
   hospitality, incentive pay, inducement, lagniappe,
   largeheartedness, largeness, largess, largesse, liberality,
   liberalness, magnanimity, munificence, old-age insurance,
   open hand, open heart, openhandedness, openheartedness,
   overtime pay, palm oil, pecuniary aid, pension, perks, perquisite,
   perquisites, philanthropy, pourboire, premium, present,
   price support, public assistance, public welfare, relief,
   retirement benefits, reward, salve, scholarship, solatium,
   something extra, sportula, stipend, subsidization, subsidy,
   subvention, support, sweetener, tax benefit, tip, unselfishness,
   welcome, welfare, welfare aid, welfare payments



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

BOUNTY. A sum of money or other thing, given, generally by' the government,
to certain persons, for some service they have done or are about to do to
the public. As bounty upon the culture of silk; the bounty given to an
enlisted soldier; and the like. It differs from a reward, which is
generally applied to particular cases; and from a payment, as there is no
contract on the part of the receiver of the bounty.



The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906):

BOUNTY, n.  The liberality of one who has much, in permitting one who
has nothing to get all that he can.

        A single swallow, it is said, devours ten millions of insects
    every year.  The supplying of these insects I take to be a signal
    instance of the Creator's bounty in providing for the lives of His
    creatures.
                                                    Henry Ward Beecher