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pension

SayPEN-shuhn/ˈpɛnʃən/

Pluralpensions

Verbpensions, pensioning, pensioned

9 meanings of pension

Practice

  1. 1
    nouncountable
    Regular money paid to someone after they stop working, usually by a government or a company.

    Like getting a paycheck even after you have stopped working.

    Her pension covers the rent and most of her food each month.

    He gets a small pension from the army after twenty years of service.

    Similarsuperannuation

    Note
  2. 2
    verbtransitive
    To give someone a regular payment after they stop working.

    The company will pension every worker who stays for twenty years.

    They pensioned the old guard generously after the merger.

  3. 3
    verbtransitive
    To make someone stop working by giving them a pension.

    They decided to pension the old manager before he was ready to leave.

    The firm pensioned several workers to cut its costs.

    Similarretire

    Note
  4. 4
    USpah-SYOHN/pɑ̃ˈsjɔ̃/UKPAH-syohn/ˈpɒ̃sjɒ̃/
    nouncountable
    A small hotel or guesthouse, found mostly in Europe, that gives you a room and some meals.

    Like a small family hotel where meals come with the room.

    We stayed in a cheap pension near the train station in Rome.

    The pension served us breakfast and dinner every day.

    Similarguesthouse, inn

    Note
  5. 5
    nounhistoricalcountable
    Regular money once given by a ruler to support a favorite, artist, or scholar.

    The young poet lived on a pension granted by the queen.

    His pension from the king paid for his studies abroad.

    Similarallowance, stipend, annuity

    Note
  6. 6
    nouncountable
    A fixed sum paid to a priest instead of the usual church payments.

    Like paying a flat fee instead of giving a share of the crops.

    The parish paid the priest a yearly pension instead of the old church dues.

    His pension replaced the payments the village once owed the church.

    Similarstipend

Less common meanings

  1. 7
    nounobsolete
    Money paid to someone as a wage or a fee for work.
    Note
  2. 8
    nounobsolete
    A cost or a tax that someone has to pay.
    Note
  3. 9
    USpah-SYOHN/pɑ̃ˈsjɔ̃/UKPAH-syohn/ˈpɒ̃sjɒ̃/
    nounobsolete
    A boarding school in countries like France, Belgium, or Switzerland.
    Note

Practice

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Origins

Meanings 1–3, 5–8

It came through Middle English and Old French from Latin pēnsiō, meaning "payment," from pendō, "to weigh."

Meanings 4, 9

It came from French pension, from Old French pencion, the same source as the first etymology.