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

See: My pension enables me to delay Social Security benefits.

From MarketWatch

The funding strategy works like this: Prologis finances a development using its balance sheet, and then sells the property to one of its funds, whose investors include sovereign-wealth funds, pension funds and others.

From The Wall Street Journal

Experts believe it is crucial for Germans to work longer to ease the strain on the pension system as the population ages.

From Barron's

‘We live on Social Security and pensions’: I’m in my 70s and my house needs repairs.

From MarketWatch

In December, lawmakers narrowly adopted the social security budget, part of the broader spending plan, postponing an unpopular pensions reform until January 2028, after President Emmanuel Macron's term ends.

From Barron's

Related Words

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