Compensable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Capable of being paid or reimbursed for losses, injuries, or expenses
2. Subject to receiving monetary or other forms of compensation for damage or work done
3. Entitled to financial remuneration or recompense for harm or effort

Etymology: "Compensable" is a plain formation: the verb "compensate" with the suffix "-able," meaning "capable of being." "Compensate" comes from Latin "compensare," "to weigh one thing against another," from "com-" ("together") and "pensare," the frequentative of "pendere," "to weigh." The Latin image of weighing things on a scale sits behind the modern sense: a compensable injury is one that can be set against a sum of money, balanced on the scale of recompense. The adjective reached English by way of French, which had its own "compensable," so the word arrived as a ready-made form rather than being assembled in English from scratch. Its core meaning, entitled to payment for harm or effort, is largely a legal and insurance usage, most familiar from workers' compensation claims, where it marks whether an injury qualifies for payment.

Synonyms: reimbursable, repayable

Antonyms: noncompensable