indemnify

WOTD – 11 September 2009    

English

Etymology

From Latin indemnis (“ unhurt”), from in- (“not”) + damnum (“hurt, damage”). Compare damn, damnify.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪnˈdɛm.nɪ.faɪ/, X-SAMPA: /In"dEm.nI.faI/

• Audio (US)

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Verb

indemnify (third-person singular simple present indemnifies, present participle indemnifying, simple past and past participle indemnified)

1. To secure against loss or damage; to insure.
   • 1670, Sir William Temple, letter to Lord Arlington, in The Works of Sir William Temple, page 101:

     The states must at last engage to the merchants here that they will indemnify them from all that shall fall out.

2. ​(chiefly law) To compensate or reimburse someone for some expense or injury
   • 1906, Civil Code of the State of California^[1], page 405:

     The lender of a thing for use must indemnify the borrower for damage caused by defects or vices in it, which he knew at the time of lending, and concealed from the borrower.

Derived terms

• indemnifiable
• indemnification
• indemnifier

Related terms

• indemnity

Translations

To save harmless; to secure against loss or damage; to insure

• Dutch: indekken (nl), verzekeren (nl)
• Finnish: turvata (fi), vakuuttaa (fi), taata (fi)
• German: sicherstellen (de)
• Hungarian: biztosít (hu), fedez (hu)
• Polish: ubezpieczyć (pl), zabezpieczyć (pl)

• Portuguese: proteger (pt), assegurar (pt)
• Russian: страховать (ru) (straxovátʹ) impf., застраховать (ru) (zastraxovátʹ) pf.
• Turkish: (birinin zararına) kefil olmak (tr), dokunulmazlık vermek (tr), korumak (tr), teminat vermek (tr)

To make restitution or compensation for

• Dutch: vergoeden (nl)
• Finnish: hyvittää (fi), korvata (fi)
• German: schadlos halten (de), wiedergutmachen (de), Indemnität erteilen (de)
• Hungarian: térít (hu), kárpótol (hu)

• Polish: wynagrodzić (pl), wypłacić odszkodowanie (pl)
• Portuguese: indenizar (pt)
• Russian: возмещать (ru) (vozmeščátʹ) impf., возместить (ru) (vozmestítʹ) pf.
• Turkish: tazmin etmek (tr)