What does "pension" mean?
Pension: A stated allowance to a person in consideration of past services; payment made to one retired from service, on account of age, disability, or other cause; especially, a regular stipend paid by a government to retired public officers, disabled soldiers, the families of soldiers killed in service, or to meritorious authors, or the like. To all that kept the city pensions and wages. 1 Esd. iv.
Additional senses
- 2.3. A certain sum of money paid to a clergyman in lieu of tithes. [Eng.] Mozley & W.
- 3.Etym: [F., pronounced .] A boarding house or boarding school in France, Belgium, Switzerland, etc.
- 4.To grant a pension to; to pay a regular stipend to; in consideration of service already performed; -- sometimes followed by off; as, to pension off a servant. One knighted Blackmore, and one pensioned Quarles. Pope.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00