Pension

(pěn'shūn.) [From L. pens io, a weighing. ] An allowance of money annually paid by a government, or by a private individual or individuals, to a person in requital of past services, or to compensate him for injuries received while in discharge of his duty; the term particularly applies to the annual payment made by government to retired or disabled officers or soldiers, or to the families of those who have lost their lives in the public service:- the recipients of such bounty take the name of pensioners. [s. 696]