restitution

/ˈrɛstəˌtuʃən/

/rɛstɪˈtuʃən/

Other forms: restitutions

Restitution is the act of making up for damages or harm. Remember the time you knocked the ball out of the park, scoring a home run but breaking a house's window in the process? You had to make restitution for the broken window, paying for its replacement.

The noun restitution means both "restoring something to its original state" and "returning something to its rightful owner," like a public apology that leads to the restitution of a person's honor and reputation. Restitution also has a specific legal meaning — an order given by a judge to a convicted criminal to make amends for the crime. For example, judges often order people to pay restitution for the damage they cause.

Definitions of restitution

1. noun

   the act of restoring something to its original state
   type of:

   fix, fixing, fixture, mend, mending, repair, reparation

   the act of putting something in working order again
2. noun

   getting something back again
   “upon the restitution of the book to its rightful owner the child was given a tongue lashing”

   synonyms: regaining, restoration, return

   types:

   clawback

   finding a way to take money back from people that they were given in another way

   type of:

   acquisition

   the act of contracting or assuming or acquiring possession of something
3. noun

   a sum of money paid in compensation for loss or injury
   synonyms: amends, damages, indemnification, indemnity, redress

   types:

   relief

   (law) redress awarded by a court

   actual damages, compensatory damages, general damages

   (law) compensation for losses that can readily be proven to have occurred and for which the injured party has the right to be compensated

   nominal damages

   (law) a trivial sum (usually $1.00) awarded as recognition that a legal injury was sustained (as for technical violations of a contract)

   exemplary damages, punitive damages, smart money

   (law) compensation in excess of actual damages (a form of punishment awarded in cases of malicious or willful misconduct)

   atonement, expiation, satisfaction

   compensation for a wrong

   double damages

   twice the amount that a court would normally find the injured party entitled to

   treble damages

   three times the amount that a court would normally find the injured party entitled to

   type of:

   compensation

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