annuity
Americannoun
-
a specified income payable at stated intervals for a fixed or a contingent period, often for the recipient's life, in consideration of a stipulated premium paid either in prior installment payments or in a single payment.
-
the right to receive such an income, or the duty to make such a payment or payments.
noun
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a fixed sum payable at specified intervals, esp annually, over a period, such as the recipient's life, or in perpetuity, in return for a premium paid either in instalments or in a single payment
-
the right to receive or the duty to pay such a sum
Discover More
Many people's retirement funds are set up to be paid in annuities.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of annuity
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Anglo-French annuité, annualté, from Medieval Latin annuitās, equivalent to Latin annu(us) “yearly,” derivative of annus “year” + -itās -ity
Explanation
An annuity is money that comes from an investment and is paid out regularly over a fixed period of time. You can buy an insurance policy that is an annuity, or you can choose an annuity as one of your retirement fund options. The noun annuity is from the Latin word annus, meaning "year." Indeed, annuities typically pay out on a year basis, although other terms are possible. If you win a large amount of money in the lottery, you can usually choose to take a lump-sum payment or smaller payments paid every year over some term, like 20 or 25 years. Figuring out which payment plan is best for you would be a nice problem to have!
Vocabulary lists containing annuity
This Week in Words: October 21- 27, 2018
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Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - High School
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Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Annuity rates comfortably beat the 4% rule or 3.9% rule, even if you build in some inflation protection.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 26, 2026
Financial adviser William Burrows, of the Annuity Project, said there was a time lag, so annuity rates were likely to continue rising.
From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026
Annuity pricing is often opaque, and the products themselves are frequently sold through commission-based channels, making it difficult for investors to distinguish between necessary insurance features and costly add-ons.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 3, 2026
Teachers Insurance and Annuity Assn. of America has nearly $25 billion in fossil fuel investments, though it only represents 10% of their portfolio.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 20, 2022
He was founder of the "Annuity Society,"—an institution attended with numerous benefits to the citizens of Glasgow.
From The Modern Scottish Minstrel, Volume II. The Songs of Scotland of the past half century by Rogers, Charles
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
