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:
What he only realised afterwards was that he had been offered two links - one to buy the book, and another to a website where he was asked to enter payment details.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
Many of those listed on online marketplaces are larger and more custom than Cash App’s Tags, making for an arguably more sensational payment experience.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 22, 2026
Leases were granted through competitive bonus bidding with a cash payment at closing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
However, lawyers for the claimants said the interim payment should be just over £7.9 million.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
She had no payment, of course—unless the old woman was a Joe Mauer fan.
From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu
The deal with Warner includes a “ticking fee” with payments to Warner shareholders of roughly $650 million a quarter starting Oct.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
FedEx has already received about $800 million in refunds, but has booked $749 million as liabilities owed back to customers whose tariff payments it can trace.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 22, 2026
The United States imposed a 25-percent tariff on a range of Brazilian goods over policies it argued harm US commerce -- such as deforestation and a free electronic payments system known as PIX.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
Columbia House drew further claims of bad business by allegedly refusing to acknowledge payments, discounting items so that users’ purchases fell just below the agreed-upon threshold and being a notoriously difficult subscription to terminate.
From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2026
I guess he’s careful about his child support payments being put to good use.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
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.
