reimbursement
Pronunciation
- /ˌɹiː.ɪmˈbɜːs.mənt/[1]
Etymology
It is formed from English reimburse + -ment,[2][3] perhaps after French remboursement, recorded in Middle French before 1430;[2] Merriam-Webster takes it as probably borrowed from the French word.[4] reimburse combines re- (“back”) with the now archaic imburse (“to pay, enrich”), recorded from the 1530s,[3][2] perhaps after rembourser or Italian rimborsare.[2] imburse is from French embourser, from Old French em- (“in”) and borser (“to get money”), from borse (“purse”), from Medieval Latin bursa, the source of purse.[3]
Earliest recorded meaning
The repaying of a sum of money: 1591, in the records of the Convention of Royal Burghs of Scotland, the same year as the verb reimburse.[2] Etymonline dates the noun to the 1610s.[3]
Semantic evolution
The meaning has stayed close to the original: the act of paying back money that someone has spent or lost, or an instance of it.[2][4] Johnson (1755) defined it as reparation or repayment.[5] The verb was also used figuratively for refunding or disgorging, from 1725 to 1849.[2]
Timeline
Meanings
Noun
- The act of repaying money that someone has spent or lost: Staff can claim reimbursement for travel costs.[4][2]
- A sum paid back in this way.[2][4]
Word family
- nonreimbursement
Related words
- reimburse
- imburse
- disbursement
- purse
- bursar
References
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.