medallion vs medal

medallion and medal both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
medallion	Yes	No	No	No
medal	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, medallion and medal are synonyms defined as:

medallion and medal: an award for winning a championship or commemorating some other event

Other synonyms of medallion include decoration, laurel wreath, palm, ribbon.

medallion (noun)	medal (noun)
an award for winning a championship or commemorating some other event	an award for winning a championship or commemorating some other event
an emblem indicating that a taxicab is registered
a circular helping of food (especially a boneless cut of meat)
a circular helping of food (especially a boneless cut of meat) "medallions of veal"
any of various large ancient Greek coins