recompense

/ˌrɛkəmˈpɛns/

/ˈrɛkəmpɛnts/

Other forms: recompensed; recompenses; recompensing

Say you loan a few bucks to a friend who is short on cash, and he wins the lottery. Presumably, he'll be able to recompense you, or pay you back what he owes.

If you look closely at recompense, you'll see how similar it is to compensate, which means to make amends for something or to pay. Add the prefix re-, which suggests returning or repeating, and you get the meaning of recompense — paying back or reimbursing financially or otherwise. Recompense is most often used as a verb, but it works as a noun, too. In recompense for throwing peas and screaming, a mother might send a toddler to her room for a time-out.

Definitions of recompense

1. verb

   make payment to; compensate
   synonyms: compensate, remunerate

   types:

   recoup, reimburse

   reimburse or compensate (someone), as for a loss

   type of:

   pay

   give money, usually in exchange for goods or services
2. verb

   make amends for; pay compensation for
   synonyms: compensate, indemnify, repair

   types:

   give

   deliver in exchange or recompense

   type of:

   pay

   give money, usually in exchange for goods or services
3. noun

   payment or reward (as for service rendered)
   types:

   adjustment, allowance

   an amount added or deducted on the basis of qualifying circumstances

   compensation

   something (such as money) given or received as payment or reparation (as for a service or loss or injury)

   cost-of-living allowance

   an allowance for changes in the consumer price index

   depreciation allowance

   an allowance for loss due to depreciation

   deduction, discount

   an amount or percentage deducted

   seasonal adjustment

   a statistical adjustment made to accommodate predictable fluctuations as a function of the season of the year

   tare

   an adjustment made for the weight of the packaging in order to determine the net weight of the goods

   overcompensation

   excessive compensation

   workmen's compensation

   compensation for death or injury suffered by a worker in the course of his employment

   reimbursement

   compensation paid (to someone) for damages or losses or money already spent etc.

   emolument

   compensation received by virtue of holding an office or having employment (usually in the form of wages or fees)

   blood money

   compensation paid to the family of a murdered person

   amends, damages, indemnification, indemnity, redress, restitution

   a sum of money paid in compensation for loss or injury

   counterbalance, offset

   a compensating equivalent

   reparation

   (usually plural) compensation exacted from a defeated nation by the victors

   reparation

   compensation (given or received) for an insult or injury

   type of:

   payment

   a sum of money paid or a claim discharged
4. noun

   the act of compensating for service or loss or injury
   synonyms: compensation

   types:

   indemnification

   an act of compensation for actual loss or damage or for trouble and annoyance

   type of:

   correction, rectification

   the act of offering an improvement to replace a mistake; setting right