pension English · revision 6435

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1316|origins=la pendo}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈpɛnʃən/; /ˈpɪnʃən/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English pencioun, [[bor|fro|pension|t=payment, rent]] and directly [[m|la|pēnsio|t=payment, instalment, rent]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[m|la|pendo|alt=pendere|t=to weigh, pay]] (see [[pendant]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A fixed payment out of the revenues of a benefice: 1316 in the OED, the early 14th century in Anglo-Latin;^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) a reward or payment, before 1376, in ''Piers Plowman'', in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Word Origins notes that a pension was at first a payment, a tax, or a regular sum paid to keep someone's loyalty.^(Cresswell 2021) A tax is from before 1387,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) a salary from 1362–1413,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) and a payment to royal favourites from about 1500.^(OED 1989) A regular payment for past services is from the 1520s, and to persons retired because of age or disability, originally soldiers and sailors, follows.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021) A boarding house or boarding school on the Continent, from French, is from the 1640s and is pronounced as in French.^(Etymonline)^(Roach et al. 2011) The verb, to grant a pension, is from 1702, and ''pension off'' later.^(Etymonline)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1316 – a payment from a benefice.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1387 – a tax.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1520s – a payment for past service.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1640s – a boarding house.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1702 – the verb.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A regular payment made to a person after retirement, by the state, an employer or a [[fund]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A regular payment made because of disability or widowhood.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A boarding house or small hotel in Europe.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''pension off'': to retire someone with a pension; to get rid of as no longer useful.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pensionable]]

+ * [[pensionless]]

+ * [[pensionably]]

+ * [[pensionary]]

+ * [[pensioner]]

+ * [[pension plan]]

+ * [[pension fund]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pendant]]

+ * [[stipend]]

+ * [[compensate]]

+ * [[pound]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}