compensate

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Contents

English [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Latin compensatus, past participle of compensare (to weight together one thing against another, balance, make good, later also shorten, spare), from com- (together) + pensare (to weight).

Pronunciation [edit]

Verb [edit]

compensate (third-person singular simple present compensates, present participle compensating, simple past and past participle compensated)

  1. To pay or reward someone in exchange for work done or some other consideration.
    It is hard work, but they will compensate you well for it.
  2. To make up for; to do something in place of something else; to correct, satisfy; to reach an agreement such that the scales are literally or (metaphorically) balanced; to equalize or make even.
    He tries to use a loud voice to compensate for a lack of personality.
    To compensate me for his tree landing on my shed, my neighbor paved my driveway, which he could do since he owned his own business.
  3. To adjust or adapt to a change; often a negative, (harmful, or depriving) or undesired one.
    I don't like driving that old car because it always steers a little to the left so I'm forever compensating for that when I drive it. Trust me, it gets annoying real fast.
    To compensate for his broken leg, Gary uses crutches.

Derived terms [edit]

Related terms [edit]

Synonyms [edit]

1. To pay

2. To make up for, correct, satisfy, or equalize, to balance the scales, to equalize or make even.

3. To adjust to a change.

Translations [edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

External links [edit]


Italian [edit]

Verb [edit]

compensate

  1. second-person plural present indicative of compensare
  2. second-person plural imperative of compensare
  3. Feminine plural of compensato

Latin [edit]

Verb [edit]

compensāte

  1. second-person plural present active imperative of compensō