pension

UK: /ˈpɛnʃ^ən/ US: /ˈpɛnʃən/ ,(pen′shən; Fr. pän syôn′ for 3)

Inflections of 'pension' (n): npl: pensions

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

pen•sion /ˈpɛnʃən/   n., pl. -sions /-ʃənz; Fr. -ˈsyɔ̃ for 3.   v. 
n. [countable]

1. a fixed amount of money paid regularly to one who no longer works for a company, for past services, etc.:
   He watched his pension dwindle.
2. (in Europe) a boardinghouse or small hotel:
   a small pension in Barcelona.

v. 

3. to grant or pay a pension to:
   [~ + object] The company will pension you at age 55.
4. to cause (someone) to retire on a pension: [~ + off + object]
   The company pensioned off most of its workers.
   [~ + object + off]
   The company pensioned us off.

pen•sion•er, n. 

[countable] pensioners and others on fixed incomes.

See -pend-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

pen•sion  (pen′shən; Fr. pän syôn′ for 3), n., pl. -sions (-shənz; Fr. -syôn′ for 3), v. 
n. 

1. a fixed amount, other than wages, paid at regular intervals to a person or to the person's surviving dependents in consideration of past services, age, merit, poverty, injury or loss sustained, etc.:
   a retirement pension.
2. an allowance, annuity, or subsidy.
3. (in France and elsewhere in continental Europe)
   • a boardinghouse or small hotel.
   • room and board.

v.t. 

4. to grant or pay a pension to.
5. to cause to retire on a pension (usually fol. by off ).

• Latin pēnsiōn- (stem of pēnsiō) a weighing out, hence, a paying out, installment paying, equivalent. to pēns(us) (past participle of pendere to weigh out, pay by weight, equivalent. to pend- verb, verbal stem + -tus past participle suffix, with dts) + -iōn- -ion
• Old French pensïon)
• Middle English (1325–75

pen′sion•a•ble, adj. 
pen′sion•a•bly, adv. 
pen′sion•less, adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

pension / ˈpɛnʃən/ noun

1. a regular payment made by the state to people over a certain age to enable them to subsist without having to work
2. a regular payment made by an employer to former employees after they retire
3. a regular payment made to a retired person as the result of his or her contributions to a personal pension scheme
4. any regular payment made on charitable grounds, by way of patronage, or in recognition of merit, service, etc: a pension paid to a disabled soldier

verb

1. (transitive) to grant a pension to

Etymology: 14th Century: via Old French from Latin pēnsiō a payment, from pendere to pay

ˈpensionable adjective

ˈpensionless adjective

pension / pɑ̃sjɔ̃/ noun (in France and some other countries)

1. a relatively cheap boarding house
2. another name for full board

Etymology: 17th Century: French; extended meaning of pension grant; see pension¹