I. ˈpenchən, in sense 3 (ˈ)päⁿs|yōⁿ or |päⁿsē|ōⁿ noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English pensioun, from Middle French & Medieval Latin; Middle French pension, from Medieval Latin pension-, pensio, from Latin, payment, from pensus (past participle of pendere to weigh, estimate, pay) + -ion-, -io -ion — more at pendant
1.
a. : a fixed sum of money charged annually upon the revenues of a benefice by an ecclesiastical superior and paid to a cleric for any just cause (as the work of the church, reward for services, support of a former incumbent)
b. obsolete : a payment required of a person or group ; specifically : the dues payable by a member of a society (as a guild or Inn of Court) — often used in plural
2. : a fixed sum paid regularly to a person:
a. archaic : one paid to an employee for current services : wage
b. : one paid for secret service or for a claim upon assistance when needed
c. : a gratuity granted (as by a government) as a favor or reward or as a subsidy to a person of recognized merit in art, literature, or science
d.
(1) : one paid under given conditions to a person following his retirement from service (as due to age or disability) or to the surviving dependents of a person entitled to such a pension
(2) : the portion of an empolyee's retirement income provided by the employer's contributions under a contributory plan — compare annuity
3.
a.
(1) : payment for board and room
strolled to the inn where he paid his pension — Robert Hichens
(2) : accommodations at a European hotel or boardinghouse : room and board
charges $3 a day for … full pension or $2.50 for half-pension, breakfast and one meal — Horace Sutton
b. also pen·si·o·ne ˌpen(t)sēˈōnē
[ pensione from Italian, pension, from Old Italian, from Middle French]
: a boardinghouse in continental Europe or Latin America
II. ˈpenchən, in vi sense (ˈ)päⁿs|yōⁿ or |päⁿsē|ōⁿ verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
intransitive verb
: to receive board and lodging at a fixed rate
the small country house where we pensioned — W.J.Cory
transitive verb
: to grant or pay a pension to : dismiss or retire from service with a pension
the present nizam … is pensioned by the new State Government and has withdrawn from politics — Jewelers' Circular
— often followed by off
finally pensioned off his faithful old servant