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.

---

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  

/ 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 ² British  

/ pɑ̃sjɔ̃ /

noun

1. a relatively cheap boarding house

2. another name for full board

---

pension Cultural  

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

---

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

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

But to qualify, you have to be on benefits like Universal Credit or Pension Credit.

From BBC • Apr. 22, 2026

Pension funds are evaluating their significant private-market tech investments because of concerns and opportunities presented by emerging AI tools.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 2, 2026

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board will invest $1.6 billion for a 60% stake, while digital infrastructure company Equinix will own a 40% stake, the companies said in a separate release on Friday.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026

This legislation repealed the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset, two rules that reduced or eliminated Social Security benefits for workers whose jobs did not pay into Social Security.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 27, 2026

While at the Pension Office, Jennings met a man named John Brooks Russell, a black freeman from Massachusetts.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis

Related Words

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