reimburse

Etymology

It is formed from English re- + imburse,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} perhaps after Middle French rembourser or Italian rimborsare;^[2] the Shorter Oxford and Weekley give the French model alone.^[7][8] Imburse, to put in a purse, to pay, recorded from about 1530,^[2][4] is from Medieval Latin imbursō,^{[2][5][9][10]} from in- (“into”) and bursa (“purse, bag”),^[10][11] the source of purse;^[5][12] Etymonline, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster derive it instead from Middle French embourser, from Old French em- and borser (“to get money”).^{[4][3][6][11]} An earlier verb ramburse, from the French verb, is recorded from 1564 to 1651.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To repay a sum of money that has been spent or lost: 1591.^[2][6] Barnhart dates the word to 1611, in Cotgrave's dictionary,^[3] and Etymonline to the 1610s.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The verb first took the money as its object; from 1624 it also took the person repaid as a second object.^[2] From 1644 the person alone could be the object, and later (1650) it was used reflexively, of making good one's own losses.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as to repay, to repair loss or expense by an equivalent, quoting Swift for the reflexive use.^[13] A figurative use, "to refund, disgorge", is recorded from 1725 to 1849.^[2] In US Black slang recorded in 1983, reimburse meant to pay with one's life for failing to repay a debt or favour.^[14]

Timeline

• 1564 – the earlier form ramburse, borrowed from French.^[2]
• 1591 – to repay a sum of money spent or lost.^[2][6]
• 1624 – with the person repaid as a second object.^[2]
• 1644 – to repay or compensate a person.^[2]
• 1650 – reflexive, to make good one's own losses.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To pay back money that someone has spent or lost: The company will reimburse your travel expenses.^[9][6][2]
2. To repay or compensate a person for money spent, a loss or damages; to indemnify.^[9][6][2]

Word family

• reimbursable
• reimbursement
• reimburser
• unreimbursed

Related words

• bursa
• bursar
• bursary
• purse
• imburse
• disburse

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
12. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com