Other forms: compensations
Compensation is money given to balance a loss or an injury. Claim compensation, a compensation payment, compensation for the delay.
In law, damages is the technical term and compensation the everyday one. The principle is restoring somebody to the position they would have been in, which is straightforward for a broken window and impossible for almost everything else. In American usage, compensation also means pay generally — executive compensation. Note compensate; and compensatory, which describes a payment made to make up for something.
1nouncompensationMoney given to balance a loss or an injury.
“The airline paid her compensation after losing her luggage.”
compensation is a balancing payment.
Latin compensatio comes from compensare, to weigh one thing against another — com plus pendere, to weigh. Compensation is balancing the scales, which is exactly the legal principle.
Latin
compensātiōnem
Old French
compensacion
Middle English
compensacioun
English, today
compensation
From Middle English compensacioun, from Old French compensacion, from Latin compensātiōnem, accusative singular of compensātiō. Equivalent to compensate + ion.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA