ˌkän.trəˈbyüshən noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English contribucioun, from Middle French contribution, from Late Latin contribution-, contributio, dividing, distributing, assigning, from Latin contributus + -ion-, -io -ion
1. : a payment imposed upon a body of persons or on the population of a territory by civil, military, or ecclesiastical authority : impost ; especially : a tax or imposition levied on the people of a country by an army of occupation originally as a payment for exemption from pillage but later to meet military necessity
2. : act of contributing
the contribution of funds to a campaign
3.
a. : something that is contributed : a sum or thing voluntarily contributed
a five-dollar contribution to charity
: the portion or share that an individual contributes to the common store
a great contribution to our knowledge of the stars
: a share contributed to any act or effect
a contribution to the progress of the war
b. : something written or prepared for publication especially in a periodical
c. : the whole that is formed by the gifts of individuals
the total contribution amounted to $500
4.
a. : a pro rata apportionment of loss among all the insurance policies covering a property as provided for by a clause in some policies
b. : a distribution of surplus by allocating to each life-insurance policy the excess of premiums and interest earned thereon over the expenses of management, cost of insurance, and the policy value at the date of computation ; also : the excess so distributed
c. : a sum paid by an employer to an unemployment or group-insurance fund or for retirement benefits for employees ; also : a sum paid by employees under such a plan
5. : a payment of an individual's share in a loss for which several are jointly liable ; also : the amount so paid by one of them