# pension

Pronunciation: say "PEN-shuhn" /ˈpɛnʃən/

## Noun

1. A regular payment made to a retired worker, soldier, or similar person in return for past service, provided by a government or a private fund.
   - Simple: Regular money paid to someone after they stop working, usually by a government or a company.
   - _After forty years at the factory, he finally began drawing his pension._
   - _The company's pension fund lost a great deal of value during the downturn._
4. A boarding house or small hotel, especially in continental Europe, that typically provides lodging along with certain meals and services. (pronounced: US say "pah-SYOHN" /pɑ̃ˈsjɔ̃/; UK say "PAH-syohn" /ˈpɒ̃sjɒ̃/)
   - Simple: A small hotel or guesthouse, found mostly in Europe, that gives you a room and some meals.
   - _They booked a family-run pension in the Alps for a week._
   - _Each pension along the coast offered half-board at a fixed nightly rate._
5. A regular payment made to support a royal favorite, or given by a patron to an artist or scholar.
   - Simple: Regular money once given by a ruler to support a favorite, artist, or scholar.
   - _The court painter relied on a generous pension from his royal patron._
   - _Parliament grumbled about the pensions handed out to the king's favorites._
6. A sum paid to a member of the clergy in place of tithes.
   - Simple: A fixed sum paid to a priest instead of the usual church payments.
   - _The rector received a modest pension in lieu of the tithes formerly collected._
   - _Disputes over the pension owed to the curate dragged on for years._

## Verb

2. To grant a regular retirement payment to someone, often in recognition of their service.
   - Simple: To give someone a regular payment after they stop working.
   - _The government decided to pension all veterans of the war._
   - _The trustees pensioned their longest-serving employees with full benefits._
3. To compel someone to retire by placing them on a pension.
   - Simple: To make someone stop working by giving them a pension.
   - _The ministry chose to pension the outspoken general against his will._
   - _Management pensioned the older clerks to bring in new staff._

## Noun

7. A wage or fee paid for work or services. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Money paid to someone as a wage or a fee for work.
8. A charge or expense of some kind, including a tax. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A cost or a tax that someone has to pay.
9. A boarding school in France, Belgium, Switzerland, or similar countries. *(obsolete)* (pronounced: US say "pah-SYOHN" /pɑ̃ˈsjɔ̃/; UK say "PAH-syohn" /ˈpɒ̃sjɒ̃/)
   - Simple: A boarding school in countries like France, Belgium, or Switzerland.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–3, 5–8** — From Middle English pencioun, from Anglo-Norman pencione and Old French pencion, and ultimately from Latin pēnsiō ("payment, weight, rent, compensation"), which comes from the participle stem of pendō ("to weigh").
**Meanings 4, 9** — From French pension, from Old French pencion, as in the first etymology above. It is a doublet of pensione.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/pension (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).