Etymologically
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remuneration

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ɹɪˌmjuː.nəˈɹeɪ.ʃən/[1]
  • US: /ɹɪˌmju.nəˈɹeɪ.ʃən/, /ɹə.mju.nəˈɹeɪ.ʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English remuneracioun,[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman remuneracion and Middle French remuneration,[4][5][6] and directly borrowed from Latin remūnerātiō (“a repaying, recompense”),[4][2][3][7] the noun of action from the past participle of remūneror (“to pay, reward”).[3][4][7] That verb is formed from re- (“back”) and mūneror (“to give”), from mūnus (“gift, office, duty”).[3] The French noun is recorded from 1300.[4] The OED compares remuneration (13th century), remuneración (14th century), remuneração (1460) and remunerazione (before 1348).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Reward, recompense, payment: about 1400, in a prose version of the New Testament (2 Corinthians 6:13), "Hafynge þe same remuneracyoun".[2][4][3] Merriam-Webster dates it to the 15th century,[5] and Dictionary.com to 1470–80, with the earlier form remuneracion.[8]

Semantic evolution

The word first meant a reward or requital in general, and only later, chiefly, money paid for work or a service.[4][2] From 1459, in a draft of John Fastolf's will in the Paston Letters, it was also a count noun, a single payment or sum.[4] Johnson (1755) gave "reward; requital; recompense; repayment" and quoted Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost for it.[9] The verb remunerate came later, in the 1520s, perhaps as a back-formation from the noun.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1400 – reward, recompense, payment.[4][2][3]
  • 1459 – a single payment or sum paid for work.[4]
  • 1572 – the variant renumeration.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Money paid for work or a service; pay or salary: The post offers generous remuneration.[4][5][10]
  2. The act of remunerating.[5][10]
  3. A reward or recompense given in return for something.[4][9][2]

Usage notes

The form renumeration, recorded since 1572, is a variant by metathesis, probably influenced by words in numer- such as numeral; a separate renumeration means a numbering again.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
  7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  9. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins