pension

American  

[pen-shuhn, pahn-syawn] / ˈpɛn ʃən, pɑ̃ˈsyɔ̃ /

noun

plural

pensions

1. a fixed amount, other than wages, paid at regular intervals to a person or to the person's surviving dependents in consideration of past services, age, merit, poverty, injury or loss sustained, etc..

   a retirement pension.

2. an allowance, annuity, or subsidy.

3. (in France and elsewhere in continental Europe)

   1. a boardinghouse or small hotel.

   2. room and board.

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verb (used with object)

1. to grant or pay a pension to.

2. to cause to retire on a pension (usually followed byoff ).

pension ¹ British  

/ pɑ̃sjɔ̃ /

noun

1. a relatively cheap boarding house

2. another name for full board

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pension ² British  

/ ˈpɛnʃən /

noun

1. a regular payment made by the state to people over a certain age to enable them to subsist without having to work

2. a regular payment made by an employer to former employees after they retire

3. a regular payment made to a retired person as the result of his or her contributions to a personal pension scheme

4. any regular payment made on charitable grounds, by way of patronage, or in recognition of merit, service, etc

   a pension paid to a disabled soldier

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verb

1. (tr) to grant a pension to

pension Cultural  

1. Payments made to a retired person either by the government or by a former employer.

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Other Word Forms

• nonpensionable adjective
• pensionable adjective
• pensionably adverb
• pensionless adjective
• unpensionable adjective
• unpensioned adjective
• unpensioning adjective
• well-pensioned adjective

Etymology

Origin of pension

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Old French pensïon, from Latin pēnsiōn-, stem of pēnsiō “measured weight,” hence, “payment, rent,” from pēns(us) “weighed” (past participle of pendere “to hang, weigh out, pay by weight”) + -iō -ion

Example Sentences

Schmehil said the market could have a negative impact on preretirees who have lump-sum pension payout or a one-time, upfront cash payment representing the total value of their future monthly pension benefits.

From MarketWatch

This auction could attract interest from investors such as insurance companies and pension funds due to the extremely high yields which the new 40-year issue will probably offer.

From The Wall Street Journal

Deep-pocketed pensions and endowments are scrutinizing their private debt holdings, too, worried in part about the funds’ exposure to software companies that could be hurt by the artificial-intelligence boom.

From The Wall Street Journal

Now that they are getting record low distributions on these investments, these big institutional investors will have to sell more stocks to generate cash to meet pension liabilities, said Subramanian at Bank of America.

From MarketWatch

Insurance companies and pension funds, for instance, scoop up long-dated bonds, picking up additional yield and matching long-dated liabilities on their books.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• allowance
• annuity
• grant
• payment
• premium
• retirement account
• reward
• social security
• subsidy