noun
-
the act of paying
-
a sum of money paid
-
something given in return; punishment or reward
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of payment
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, variant of paiement, from Middle French; equivalent to pay 1 + -ment
Explanation
Payment is the process of either giving money to someone, or of receiving money from someone. If you borrow money to buy a car, you'll be expected to make a monthly payment for several years. Your paycheck itself is a payment, and so is the act of your boss handing you that paycheck. There are also types of payment that don't involve money, like when your payment for watching your little cousin one afternoon consists of a big piece of your uncle's famous apple pie. Payment, from the verb pay, is rooted in the Latin pacare, used to mean "satisfy a creditor," but originally defined as "please, satisfy, or make peaceful."
Vocabulary lists containing payment
"...And Although the Little Mermaid Sacrificed Everything..."
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Century 21 Accounting, 9e, Chapters 8-10
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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.
See Examples For:
Najib's aide, Ahmad Lutfi Azhar, also confirmed the payment and the former leader's lawyer Farhan Shafee said they had already obtained papers to transfer the former leader out of jail.
From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026
There was a payment of about £300,000 due to him for his early surrender of his lease, but because of "dilapidations" in the state of the building, there was a repair bill of £1.8m.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
The down payment help will be in the form of loans, and coupon payments funded by the loan interest are expected to pay back bond investors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026
Turk has denied the allegation and says this payment was a gift made on Isbilen's own initiative to create goodwill with the then duke and had nothing to do with a passport.
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
In Lady Constance’s mind, those hard-to-get tickets to Pirates on Holiday were a well-deserved payment for her own kindness and charitable spirit.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
Servicing the original debt would require further loans into the 1810s, but American exports financed payments that secured the country’s credit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
So far, employers have offered a wage increase of 1.3 percent from mid-2028 and one-off payments.
From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026
At least 13.7% of older Americans relied on those payments for 90% or more of their family income, a 2024 report from the Census Bureau’s Center for Economic Studies found.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2026
If you, like 87% of mortgage-holders, have a fixed-rate deal, then the payments will stay the same until the end of your current deal, which is usually two or five years.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
“I suppose it depends on the buyer. I accept payments in coin, of course, but sometimes I get offers for a barter.”
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
