pension

American  

[pen-shuhn, pahn-syawn] / ˈpɛn ʃən, pɑ̃ˈsyɔ̃ /

noun

plural

pensions

1. 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.

2. an allowance, annuity, or subsidy.

3. (in France and elsewhere in continental Europe)

   1. a boardinghouse or small hotel.

   2. room and board.

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verb (used with object)

1. to grant or pay a pension to.

2. to cause to retire on a pension (usually followed byoff ).

pension ¹ British  

/ pɑ̃sjɔ̃ /

noun

1. a relatively cheap boarding house

2. another name for full board

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pension ² British  

/ ˈpɛnʃən /

noun

1. a regular payment made by the state to people over a certain age to enable them to subsist without having to work

2. a regular payment made by an employer to former employees after they retire

3. a regular payment made to a retired person as the result of his or her contributions to a personal pension scheme

4. any regular payment made on charitable grounds, by way of patronage, or in recognition of merit, service, etc

   a pension paid to a disabled soldier

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verb

1. (tr) to grant a pension to

pension Cultural  

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

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Other Word Forms

• nonpensionable
  adjective
• pensionable
  adjective
• pensionably
  adverb
• pensionless
  adjective
• unpensionable
  adjective
• unpensioned
  adjective
• unpensioning
  adjective
• well-pensioned
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of pension

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Old French pensïon, from Latin pēnsiōn-, stem of pēnsiō “measured weight,” hence, “payment, rent,” from pēns(us) “weighed” (past participle of pendere “to hang, weigh out, pay by weight”) + -iō -ion

Explanation

A pension is a regular payment, usually from a company you worked for, that allows you to survive without working after you retire. In used to be common for someone to spend their entire career at one company, and then retire at 65 and receive a pension: regular payments of enough money to live on in old age. Nowadays, not that many jobs offer pensions, and it's hard for companies that do to pay for them, which is why you're likely to hear this word when people are arguing about budget cuts. It's also a verb: if you pension your employee, you give them a pension. How nice of you!

Example Sentences

According to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, which first reported the start of the sale, the government is looking for long-term investors who will preserve the group as a single entity, such as pension funds.

From Barron's • May 19, 2026

Like thousands of other civil servants, Paul's pension has been delayed as a result of outsourcing firm Capita taking over administration of the entire pension scheme.

From BBC • May 18, 2026

She said the other pension funds had already paid out.

From BBC • May 18, 2026

That's partly because of the state pension, which now pays out vastly more than it did in previous generations, when measured as a proportion of median earnings.

From BBC • May 17, 2026

Columbus was determined to insist that he had seen land first because Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain had promised a lifetime pension to the first person to sight land.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• allowance
• annuity
• grant
• payment
• premium
• retirement account
• reward
• social security
• subsidy