Unreimbursable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Describing costs that cannot be repaid or compensated under any circumstances
2. identifying expenses that are not eligible for reimbursement by any organization or entity
3. characterizing charges that individuals are responsible for without a possibility of recouping funds

Etymology: "Unreimbursable" is about as plain as English etymology gets: the prefix "un-", meaning "not", attached to "reimbursable", which is itself built from "reimburse" plus the suffix "-able", meaning "capable of being". The sense therefore follows directly from the parts: something that cannot be paid back. The base verb "reimburse" goes back to the Latin "in" and "bursa", meaning "purse", so to reimburse is literally to return something to a purse. That image of money going back into someone's pocket explains why the family of words centres on payment, and why the negative form is used mainly for expenses that can never be recovered.

Synonyms: nonrefundable, nonreimbursable

Antonyms: reimbursable, refundable