Showing results for "reparations"

• plural of reparation.

reparations

American  

[rep-uh-rey-shuhnz] / ˌrɛp əˈreɪ ʃənz /

Sometimes reparation

plural noun

1. compensation in money, material, labor, etc., payable by a defeated country to another country or to an individual for loss suffered during or as a result of war.

   The U.S. government eventually disbursed reparations to Japanese Americans who had been interned during World War II.

2. monetary or other compensation payable by a country to an individual for a historical wrong.

   The article is about reparations to Black people for the enslavement of their ancestors.

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Usage

What does reparations mean? Reparations are forms of compensation provided to those who have suffered wrongdoing or to their descendants. The term is especially used to refer to payments made (or proposed to be made) in the aftermath of war, slavery, or other forms of wide-scale systemic injustice. Reparations typically consist of monetary payments, but they can also consist of goods, materials, or reparatory actions intended to account for such damages or to address ongoing injustice. War reparations are typically made by a defeated country to the country or countries considered the victors (often ultimately to individual citizens in those countries) for losses and damages that resulted from the war. In the United States, reparations have been made to certain groups and proposed for others. Discussion of the topic often involves proposals to make reparations to people who have been the victims of brutal treatment and racist policies throughout U. S. history, including Native Americans and the Black Americans who are the descendants of the African people enslaved in the U. S. Sometimes, the word reparations is thought to be inappropriate for the type of compensation sought by some groups, who may consider it a payment of an existing debt, rather than a form of restitution. More generally, the singular form reparation is the act or process of making amends for wrongdoing. It can also refer to the act or process of repairing or the state of having been repaired.

Etymology

Origin of reparations

First recorded in 1350–1400; plural of reparation ( def. ) (in the sense of “something done or given to make amends”)

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

reparations

Except for the part about reparations, the demands restated some of the 14 articles in the memorandum of understanding signed by U.S. and Iranian negotiators in mid-June.

From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026

San Francisco, Detroit and other cities have considered reparations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026

The country's application asks the ICJ, based in the Netherlands, to order Rwanda to cease its alleged crimes and award reparations to the Congolese authorities and its victims.

From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026

The war ended in 1945, but questions surrounding reparations, expellees, prisoners of war and borders would complicate relations between Moscow and the two Germanies for years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026

Allied forces would temporarily occupy a band of German territory along the Rhine River, and Germany would be required to pay reparations, or damages, for the loss and destruction caused by the war.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman