- pension
- mid-14c., "payment for services," especially "reward, payment out of a benefice" (early 14c., in Anglo-L.), from O.Fr. pension "payment, rent," from L. pensionem (nom. pensio) "payment, rent," from pensus, pp. of pendere "pay, weigh" (see pendant). Meaning "regular payment in consideration of past service" first recorded 1520s. Meaning "boarding house, boarding school" first attested 1640s, from French, and usually in ref. to places in France or elsewhere on the Continent. Pensioner first recorded late 15c.