Award
something given to a person or a group of people to recognize their merit or excellence
An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration.
An award may be described by three aspects: 1) to whom it is given to 2) what 3) by whom, all varying according to purpose.
The recipient is often awarded to an individual, a student, athlete or representative of a group of people, be it an organisation, a sports team or a whole country. The award item may be a decoration or an insignia suitable for wearing, such as a medal, badge, award pin or rosette. It can also be a token object such as a certificate, diploma, championship belt, trophy or plaque. The award may also be accompanied by a title of honor, and an object of direct cash value, such as prize money or a scholarship.
Furthermore, an honorable mention is an award given, typically in education, that does not confer the recipient(s) a higher standing but is considered worth mentioning in an honourable way. An award may be conferred as a state decoration by a sovereign state, dynasty or other public authority (see fount of honour), or a private organisation or individual. The latter may also include ecclesiastical authorities, such as in the case of ecclesiastical awards.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Award” as something given to a person or a group of people to recognize their merit or excellence. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as something given to a person or a group of people to recognize their merit or excellence. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q618779. The Library of Congress control number is sh85113526. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
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- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Award”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Award primary sources, Award archive and Award research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Award”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Award” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.