subsidy

UK: /ˈsʌbsɪdi/ US: /ˈsʌbsɪdi/ ,(sub′si dē)

Inflections of 'subsidy' (n): npl: subsidies

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

sub•si•dy /ˈsʌbsɪdi/   n. [countable] , pl. -dies. 

1. Government a direct payment of money made by a government to a private commercial business or industry, an individual, or another government:
   The subsidies paid to the rice farmers guarantee that the farmer receives a high price without the consumer having to pay a high price, too.
2. Government any grant or contribution of money.

See -sid-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

sub•si•dy  (sub′si dē), n., pl. -dies. 

1. Business, Government a direct pecuniary aid furnished by a government to a private industrial undertaking, a charity organization, or the like.
2. Business, Government a sum paid, often in accordance with a treaty, by one government to another to secure some service in return.
3. Government a grant or contribution of money.
4. British Terms, World History money formerly granted by the English Parliament to the crown for special needs.

• Latin subsidium auxiliary force, reserve, help, equivalent. to sub- sub- + sid-, combining form of sedēre to sit¹ + -ium -ium
• Anglo-French
• Middle English subsidie 1325–75

Synonyms

• 1. Subsidy, subvention are both grants of money, especially governmental, to aid private undertakings. A subsidy is usually given to promote commercial enterprise:
  a subsidy to manufacturers during a war.
  A subvention is usually a grant to stimulate enterprises connected with science and the arts:
  a subvention to a research chemist by a major company.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

subsidy / ˈsʌbsɪdɪ/ noun ( -dies)

1. a financial aid supplied by a government, as to industry, for reasons of public welfare, the balance of payments, etc
2. a financial grant made originally for special purposes by Parliament to the Crown
3. any monetary contribution, grant, or aid

Etymology: 14th Century: from Anglo-Norman subsidie, from Latin subsidium assistance, from subsidēre to remain, from sub- down + sedēre to sit