reimbursement
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of reimbursement
Explanation
A reimbursement is a repayment for money you've already spent. When you travel for work, you get a reimbursement for your work-related expenses, like hotel bills and plane tickets, but you'll have to pay for that trip to the circus yourself. Reimbursement comes from the Latin root words re, meaning again; in, meaning into; and bursa, meaning purse. So the word reimbursement literally means in a purse again. After your parents' basement flooded, they paid to repair the damage and then got a reimbursement from the insurance company, so that they could put the money they spent in their purse again.
Vocabulary lists containing reimbursement
This Week In Words: March 21–27, 2020
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"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 14
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Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish
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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.
Local, state and tribal agencies will be able to apply for 75% reimbursement of their eligible fire suppression costs.
From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026
Waiting on reimbursement and knowing that if it doesn’t come you’ll have to pay interest is stressful.
From MarketWatch • May 5, 2026
Under EU rules, this will allow airlines to avoid paying financial compensation to passengers, though they will still be entitled to reimbursement or an alternative flight.
From BBC • May 3, 2026
The reimbursement fund was key to ensuring Houston did not lose money when it hosted the Super Bowl.
From Salon • Apr. 30, 2026
In the late 1990s, Medicare slashed reimbursement levels to around $450 per procedure, and the incomes of the surgically minded ophthalmologists fell.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
