indemnity

[ in-dem-ni-tee ]

See synonyms for indemnity on Thesaurus.com

noun,plural in·dem·ni·ties.

protection or security against damage or loss.
compensation for damage or loss sustained.

something paid by way of such compensation.
protection, as by insurance, from liabilities or penalties incurred by one's actions.
legal exemption from penalties attaching to unconstitutional or illegal actions, granted to public officers and other persons.

Origin of indemnity

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English indem(p)nite, from Middle French indemnité, from Latin indemnitāt-, stem of indemnitās “security from financial loss”; see origin at in-³, damn, -i-, -ty²

Other words from indemnity

an·ti-in·dem·ni·ty, adjective
pre·in·dem·ni·ty, noun, plural pre·in·dem·ni·ties.

Words Nearby indemnity

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use indemnity in a sentence

In 1825, France forced Haiti to pay a substantial indemnity for “property lost” during the Haitian Revolution, including the value of the workers who had freed themselves from slavery.
Stereotypes about Haiti erase the long history of U.S.-Haiti ties | Robert Taber | July 8, 2021 | Washington Post
In 1945, a young man named Chen Ning Yang graduated from Tsinghua and arrived at the University of Chicago for his PhD on a Boxer indemnity Scholarship.
China’s path to modernization has, for centuries, gone through my hometown | Yangyang Cheng | June 30, 2021 | MIT Technology Review
Hoping to improve relations between the two countries, the US government decided to return almost half the American portion of the indemnity China had agreed to pay in the Boxer Protocol.
China’s path to modernization has, for centuries, gone through my hometown | Yangyang Cheng | June 30, 2021 | MIT Technology Review
There, in his empty office, he tells his story to a Dictaphone (channeling Double indemnity) of how he became “Devin Morehouse.”
‘The Spoils of Babylon’: IFC’s Cheeky Miniseries Starring Will Ferrell, Kristen Wiig, and More | Marlow Stern | January 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
A more carefully worded legal indemnity would stop that happening.
How CISPA Could Chip Away at Your Right to Privacy | Ilana Glazer | April 18, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST

The expatriated ex-rebels became alarmed by the non-receipt of the indemnity instalment and the news from their homes.
The Philippine Islands | John Foreman
In due course indemnity claims were forwarded to the military authorities, who rejected them all.
The Philippine Islands | John Foreman
The French war indemnity enabled him to redeem a considerable portion of the state debt and to remit certain taxes.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 2 | Various
Before he left Canada he proclaimed the act of indemnity, and notified her majesty's disallowance of the ordinance.
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III. | E. Farr and E. H. Nolan
In reality the dissenters suffered very little from these acts, for they were relieved by annual acts of indemnity.
The Political History of England - Vol. X. | William Hunt

British Dictionary definitions for indemnity

indemnity

/ (ɪnˈdɛmnɪtɪ) /

nounplural -ties

compensation for loss or damage; reimbursement
protection or insurance against future loss or damage

legal exemption from penalties or liabilities incurred through one's acts or defaults
(in Canada) the salary paid to a member of Parliament or of a legislature
act of indemnity an act of Parliament granting exemption to public officers from technical penalties that they may have been compelled to incur

Origin of indemnity

C15: from Late Latin indemnitās, from indemnis uninjured, from Latin in- 1 + damnum damage

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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