[pen-shuh
n; Fr. pahn-syawn for 3] 
noun, plural -sions [-shuhnz; Fr. -syawn for 3] , verb | 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)
|
| 4. | to grant or pay a pension to. |
| 5. | to cause to retire on a pension (usually fol. by off). |
| 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
[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.
[French, from Old French, payment; see pension1.] |
Payments made to a retired person either by the government or by a former employer.