A per diem is a fixed daily allowance while travelling for work. Claim the per diem, a generous per diem, per diem rates.
It is paid instead of receipts, which saves everybody the paperwork and lets the traveller keep whatever they do not spend. Tax authorities publish rates by country, above which the money counts as pay.
1nounper diemA fixed daily allowance while travelling for work.
“The company pays a per diem to cover meals and taxis when we travel abroad.”
per diem is an allowance.
Latin per diem means by the day, from per, through, plus dies, a day, the root of diary and journal.
Latin
per diem — per day
English, today
per diem
Built from
From Latin per diem (“per day”), from und + per. From Latin per + dies (“day”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA