Compensacioun

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic spelling of compensation, meaning a payment or reward given to make up for a loss, injury or harm
2. Middle English form of a word meaning recompense, the amount given or granted to offset a loss or wrong suffered
3. Old spelling for the act or sum of making amends, giving something back to balance out damage or deprivation

Etymology: Middle English "compensacioun" was a learned borrowing from Old French "compensation", which itself came from Latin "compensatio", a noun from "compensare", meaning "to weigh one thing against another". The Latin verb was built from "com-", "together", and "pensare", "to weigh", the frequentative of "pendere", "to weigh or hang". So the core idea is literally balancing scales: one quantity set against another until they hang level. That scale image is still visible in the word's earliest English uses, which often concern making up for a loss or settling a debt. The spelling with "-cioun" reflects its French route, where the "-tion" ending was pronounced with a soft "s" sound, and English later regularized the spelling to "compensation" while keeping the same sense of an equalizing payment.

Synonyms: compensation, recompense, indemnity