reparations

American  

[rep-uh-rey-shuhnz] / ˌrɛp əˈreɪ ʃənz /

Sometimes reparation

plural noun

1. compensation in money, material, labor, etc., payable by a defeated country to another country or to an individual for loss suffered during or as a result of war.

   The U.S. government eventually disbursed reparations to Japanese Americans who had been interned during World War II.

2. monetary or other compensation payable by a country to an individual for a historical wrong.

   The article is about reparations to Black people for the enslavement of their ancestors.

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Usage

What does reparations mean? Reparations are forms of compensation provided to those who have suffered wrongdoing or to their descendants. The term is especially used to refer to payments made (or proposed to be made) in the aftermath of war, slavery, or other forms of wide-scale systemic injustice. Reparations typically consist of monetary payments, but they can also consist of goods, materials, or reparatory actions intended to account for such damages or to address ongoing injustice. War reparations are typically made by a defeated country to the country or countries considered the victors (often ultimately to individual citizens in those countries) for losses and damages that resulted from the war. In the United States, reparations have been made to certain groups and proposed for others. Discussion of the topic often involves proposals to make reparations to people who have been the victims of brutal treatment and racist policies throughout U. S. history, including Native Americans and the Black Americans who are the descendants of the African people enslaved in the U. S. Sometimes, the word reparations is thought to be inappropriate for the type of compensation sought by some groups, who may consider it a payment of an existing debt, rather than a form of restitution. More generally, the singular form reparation is the act or process of making amends for wrongdoing. It can also refer to the act or process of repairing or the state of having been repaired.

Etymology

Origin of reparations

First recorded in 1350–1400; plural of reparation ( def. ) (in the sense of “something done or given to make amends”)

Example Sentences

Washington also refused to release "even 25 percent" of Iran's frozen assets abroad or pay any reparations for the damage inflicted on Iran during the war, according to Fars.

From Barron's • May 17, 2026

She was chair of the Legislative Black Caucus and authored a bill that created a reparations task force, restricted when police can use deadly force and made ethnic studies mandatory for California State University students.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026

Women and girls "suffered particular moral and material harm as a result of the crime of persecution", which had to be reflected in the implementation of reparations, it went on.

From Barron's • Apr. 28, 2026

The TRRC, which heard harrowing testimony from victims, former security operatives and other witnesses, also called for reparations to be paid to the victims, warning that failure to act risked entrenching impunity.

From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026

The treaty forced Germany to take all the blame for starting the war and to pay high reparations that made Germany poor.

From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti