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Definition of pension - 4 dictionary results

pen⋅sion

[pen-shuhn; Fr. pahn-syawn for 3] noun, plural -sions [-shuhnz; Fr. -syawn for 3] , verb
–noun
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)
a. a boardinghouse or small hotel.
b. room and board.
–verb (used with object)
4. to grant or pay a pension to.
5. to cause to retire on a pension (usually fol. by off).

Origin:
1325–75; ME (< OF pensïon) < L pēnsiōn- (s. of pēnsiō) a weighing out, hence, a paying out, installment paying, equiv. to pēns(us) (ptp. of pendere to weigh out, pay by weight, equiv. to pend- v. s. + -tus ptp. suffix, with dt > s) + -iōn- -ion


pen⋅sion⋅a⋅ble, adjective
pen⋅sion⋅a⋅bly, adverb
pen⋅sion⋅less, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To pension
pen·sion 1   (pěn'shən)   
n.  A sum of money paid regularly as a retirement benefit or by way of patronage.
tr.v.   pen·sioned, pen·sion·ing, pen·sions
  1. To grant a pension to.

  2. To retire or dismiss with a pension: "Some French farmers suggest that the Government pension off the older and less efficient farmers" (E.J. Dionne, Jr.)


[Middle English pensioun, payment, from Old French pension, from Latin pēnsiō, pēnsiōn-, from pēnsus, past participle of pendere, to weigh, pay; see (s)pen- in Indo-European roots.]
pen'sion·a·ble adj.
pen·sion 2   (päɴ-syôɴ')   
n.  
  1. A boarding house or small hotel in Europe: "A pension had somewhat less to offer than a hotel; it was always smaller, and never elegant; it sometimes offered breakfast, and sometimes not" (John Irving).

  2. Accommodations or the payment for accommodations, especially at a boarding house or small hotel in Europe.

  3. Room and board.


[French, from Old French, payment; see pension1.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: pen·sion
Function: noun
: money paid under given conditions to a person following retirement or to surviving dependents —see also DEFINED BENEFIT PLAN, DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PLAN
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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