Etymologically
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payout

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 22:50. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /ˈpeɪaʊt/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English pay + out, from the phrasal verb pay out,[2][3][4][5] which is recorded from the mid-15th century.[3] The OED compares the later nouns payback and payoff.[2] The verb is from Old French paier (“to pay”), from Latin pācō (“to please, pacify, satisfy”), from pāx (“peace”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

An amount of money paid out: 1904, in Dialect Notes.[2] Etymonline says that the word at first referred to oil wells that produced enough to repay the cost of drilling them.[3] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1900–05.[5]

Semantic evolution

From 1917 the word was used more generally for the act or process of paying out;[2] Merriam-Webster dates this sense to 1943.[4][6] The OED defines the first sense as an often large sum paid out, especially as compensation or a dividend,[2] and Merriam-Webster includes a bookmaker's payments on a winner.[4] Since 1977 the word has also named a place where payments are made, mostly before another noun.[2] In South Midland American speech the phrasal verb pay out meant to pay off a debt in full, and paid out meant out of debt.[7]

Timeline

  • mid-15th century – the phrasal verb pay out.[3]
  • 1904 – an amount of money paid out, at first of oil wells that paid for their drilling.[2][3]
  • 1917 – the act or process of paying out.[2] Merriam-Webster dates this sense to 1943.[4]
  • 1977 – a place where payments are made.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An amount of money paid out, especially as compensation, a dividend or winnings: The insurance payout covered the new roof.[2][4]
  2. The act of paying out money; expenditure or disbursement.[4][6][2]
  3. A place where payments are made.[2]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Cassidy, Frederic G. & Joan Houston Hall (eds.) (1985–2002), Dictionary of American Regional English, vols I–IV, Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press