compensate
KOM-puhn-sayt
/ˈkɒmpənseɪt/
To give someone something, typically money, in recognition of loss, suffering, or injury.
This is often used in a professional or legal sense, focusing on balancing the scales by providing an equivalent value.
The story behind the word. From the Latin 'compensare,' meaning to weigh one thing against another. It’s the image of a merchant's scale, trying to find the exact weight of gold to match the weight of the goods.
Word relationships
- reimburse: Reimburse specifically means to pay back money already spent.
- deprive: To take something away rather than giving something back.
Commonly confused with
- indemnify: Indemnify is a specific legal promise to cover future losses; compensate is usually for losses already sustained.
Word family
- compensation (noun): Something given to make up for a loss.
- compensatory (adjective): Intended to compensate.
Collocations
- fully compensate
- compensate for losses
- financial compensation
Idioms & expressions
- compensate for lost time
Example sentences
- "The company was ordered to compensate the victims of the explosion." Legal requirement after an accident.
- "He tried to compensate for his lack of height by being exceptionally loud." Psychological balancing.
Memory hook
Think of a 'Compass' and 'Weight': You use a compass to find your way and weights to balance the scale. Balancing the scales.
When not to use
Don't use this for purely emotional apologies where no 'payment' or 'offset' is involved.
Fun facts
- In physics, 'compensation' refers to a device that counteracts the effects of temperature or pressure changes.
Related words
Also appears in
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