pension

[ pen-shuhn; French pahn-syawn for 3 ]

/ ˈpɛn ʃən; French pɑ̃ˈsyɔ̃ for 3 /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for: pension / pensioned / pensioning on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural pen·sions

[pen-shuhnz; 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).

QUIZ

QUIZ YOURSELF ON "IS" VS. "ARE"

"Is" it time for a new quiz? "Are" you ready? Then prove your excellent skills on using "is" vs. "are."

Question 1 of 7

IS and ARE are both forms of which verb?

have

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin 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

pen·sion·a·ble, adjectivepen·sion·a·bly, adverbpen·sion·less, adjectivenon·pen·sion·a·ble, adjective

un·pen·sion·a·ble, adjectiveun·pen·sioned, adjectiveun·pen·sion·ing, adjectivewell-pensioned, adjective

Words nearby pension

pensée, Pensées, pensel, Penshurst Place, pensile, pension, pensionary, pensioneer trustee, pensioner, pension fund, pension mortgage

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use pension in a sentence

She reduced the bank’s headcount to roughly 10,000 by offering thousands of workers extended severance or early pension arrangements and shrank the bank’s physical footprint by closing or merging dozens of brick-and-mortar branch locations.
She was one of the world’s few female bank CEOs. Now she’s founding a fintech venture group|Claire Zillman, reporter|September 15, 2020|Fortune
Sylvie Delacroix and Neil Lawrence, the originators of this bottom-up approach, liken data trusts to pension funds, saying they should be tightly regulated and able to provide different services to designated groups.
The EU is launching a market for personal data. Here’s what that means for privacy.|Amy Nordrum|August 11, 2020|MIT Technology Review
Some initially feared that pension funds could suffer losses on a scale similar to the Great Recession, but by year’s end pension funds did not sustain losses on nearly such a scale.
Morning Report: Local Pension Funds Scraped by in the Pandemic|Voice of San Diego|July 24, 2020|Voice of San Diego
The pension funds of city and county workers took hard hits back when the pandemic struck in March.
Morning Report: Local Pension Funds Scraped by in the Pandemic|Voice of San Diego|July 24, 2020|Voice of San Diego

The amount of any pension cost increases caused by the pandemic will not be known until later this year, when actuaries for both funds put out their reports and set the contribution rates for 2021.
Here’s Where Local Pensions Funds Stand After Losing Billions to the Pandemic|Ashly McGlone|July 24, 2020|Voice of San Diego
Young says she ultimately lost her health benefits and pension.
The Supreme Court Case Uniting Pro-Lifers & Pro-Choicers|Emily Shire|December 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He returned home a pauper without a pension and 50 years later, at 70, chronicled the travails of the War of Independence.
McCain’s 13 Favorite Soldiers|Sandra McElwaine|November 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But Raimondo ran a targeted, data-driven campaign that, like the pension reforms, was driven by the facts and not by emotion.
Meet Gina Raimondo, the Only Democratic Star of 2014|David Freedlander|November 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Retirees there were already receiving pension checks half the size of what they had been promised.
Meet Gina Raimondo, the Only Democratic Star of 2014|David Freedlander|November 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The pension fund, the union declared, had fallen victim to “a Wall Street coup.”
Meet Gina Raimondo, the Only Democratic Star of 2014|David Freedlander|November 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The governor of the fortress was provided with a safe residence in Egypt, and an annual pension of 75,000 piasters.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell
The staff officer replied that a pension of four hundred francs would save them from want in their old age.
Napoleon's Marshals|R. P. Dunn-Pattison
A pension encourages earlier retirement from work, quickens promotion, and vitalises the whole service.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland|Joseph Tatlow
Everybody in the pension was studying something; we avoided the American church and consulate and even the Baroness L.
Ancestors|Gertrude Atherton
This loyal Irishman afterwards received a pension of four shillings a day.
Ireland Under the Tudors, Vol. II (of 3)|Richard Bagwell

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, adjective

Word 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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for pension

pension

Payments made to a retired person either by the government or by a former employer.

pension

Origin of pension

OTHER WORDS FROM pension

Words nearby pension

Words related to pension

How to use pension in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for pension (1 of 2)

Derived forms of pension

Word Origin for pension

British Dictionary definitions for pension (2 of 2)

Word Origin for pension

Cultural definitions for pension