pension

American  

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

noun

pensions plural

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.

---

verb (used with object)

pensions, present (3rd person singular) pensioned, past participle, past pensioning present participle

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

---

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

---

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.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• pensions
  plural

Participles

• pensioning
  present
• pensioned
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• pension
  simple
• pensions
  simple
• have pensioned
  perfect
• has pensioned
  perfect
• are pensioning
  progressive
• am pensioning
  progressive
• is pensioning
  progressive
• have been pensioning
  perfect progressive
• has been pensioning
  perfect progressive

Past

• pensioned
  simple
• had pensioned
  perfect
• was pensioning
  progressive
• were pensioning
  progressive
• had been pensioning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will pension
  simple
• will have pensioned
  perfect
• will be pensioning
  progressive
• will have been pensioning
  perfect progressive

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

Explanation

A pension is a regular payment, usually from a company you worked for, that allows you to survive without working after you retire. In used to be common for someone to spend their entire career at one company, and then retire at 65 and receive a pension: regular payments of enough money to live on in old age. Nowadays, not that many jobs offer pensions, and it's hard for companies that do to pay for them, which is why you're likely to hear this word when people are arguing about budget cuts. It's also a verb: if you pension your employee, you give them a pension. How nice of you!

Example Sentences

If your name is on the contract and you receive benefits such as universal credit, or pension credit, then companies may be able to give you a discounted deal.

From BBC • Jun. 14, 2026

Other high-profile institutional investors supported the votes, however, including Norwegian sovereign-wealth fund Norges Bank, California public pension fund CalPERS, and New York City’s five public pension plans.

From Barron's • Jun. 12, 2026

Public pension funds fall outside Erisa and are governed by state law, but they face something Erisa-covered plans don’t: equal-protection obligations under the Constitution.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026

I have the choice of receiving either a pension of $2,900 per month, or $2,200 per month with an annual 3% increase.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 11, 2026

“She was the young lady’s nurse when she was small. Still lives there, on pension, like.”

From "Tiger, Tiger" by Lynne Reid Banks

Related Words

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