pension
[ pen-shuh n; French pahn-syawn for 3 ]
/ ˈpɛn ʃən; French pɑ̃ˈsyɔ̃ for 3 /
noun, plural pen·sions [pen-shuh nz; French pahn-syawn for 3] /ˈpɛn ʃənz; French pɑ̃ˈsyɔ̃ for 3/.
a fixed amount, other than wages, paid at regular intervals to a person or to the person's surviving dependents in consideration of past services, age, merit, poverty, injury or loss sustained, etc.: a retirement pension.
an allowance, annuity, or subsidy.
(in France and elsewhere in continental Europe)
- a boardinghouse or small hotel.
- room and board.
verb (used with object)
to grant or pay a pension to.
to cause to retire on a pension (usually followed by off).
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TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUTOrigin of pension
1325–75; Middle English (< Old French pensïon) < Latin pēnsiōn- (stem of pēnsiō) a weighing out, hence, a paying out, installment paying, equivalent to pēns(us) (past participle of pendere to weigh out, pay by weight, equivalent to pend- verb stem + -tus past participle suffix, with dt > s) + -iōn- -ion
OTHER WORDS FROM pension
Words nearby pension
pensacola bay, pensel, penshurst place, pensil, pensile, pension, pension fund, pension mortgage, pension off, pension plan, pensionary
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Example sentences from the Web for pension
British Dictionary definitions for pension (1 of 2)
pension1
/ (ˈpɛnʃən) /
noun
a regular payment made by the state to people over a certain age to enable them to subsist without having to work
a regular payment made by an employer to former employees after they retire
a regular payment made to a retired person as the result of his or her contributions to a personal pension scheme
any regular payment made on charitable grounds, by way of patronage, or in recognition of merit, service, etca pension paid to a disabled soldier
verb
(tr) to grant a pension to
Derived forms of pension
pensionable, adjectivepensionless, adjectiveWord Origin for pension
C14: via Old French from Latin pēnsiō a payment, from pendere to pay
British Dictionary definitions for pension (2 of 2)
pension2
/ French (pɑ̃sjɔ̃) /
noun (in France and some other countries)
a relatively cheap boarding house
another name for full board
Word Origin for pension
C17: French; extended meaning of pension grant; see pension 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Cultural definitions for pension
pension
Payments made to a retired person either by the government or by a former employer.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.