Outpay

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To pay more than what is required or expected for a product or service
2. to exceed in payment, often to outbid or surpass another party in financial terms
3. to compensate with a larger amount than necessary in a given transaction or obligation

Etymology: "Outpay" is a plain compound: the prefix "out-", meaning beyond or surpassing, joined to "pay," which comes from Old French "payer" and ultimately from Latin "pacare," to pacify or appease. Put together, the verb means to pay more than someone else, so that the payment outstrips a rival's offer. That is the whole of its construction, and the sense follows directly from its parts. The "out-" prefix is productive in English, and it attaches freely to verbs like "outbid," "outrun," and "outsell," each adding the idea of going past a competitor or limit. "Outpay" fits that pattern exactly, which is why it reads as a natural coinage rather than a word with a strange past.

Synonyms: overpay, exceed, compensate

Antonyms: underpay, shortchange