reimburse

English

Etymology

1591, re- (back) +‎ imburse (pay, literally put in a purse) (perhaps after Middle French rembourser or Italian rimborsàre),[1] from Middle French embourser, from Old French en- (in) + borser (to get money), from borse (purse), from Medieval Latin bursa (English purse).[2]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˌɹiːɪmˈbɜː(ɹ)s/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)s

Verb

reimburse (third-person singular simple present reimburses, present participle reimbursing, simple past and past participle reimbursed)

  1. To compensate with payment; especially, to repay money spent on one's behalf.
    Synonym: (one sense, obsolete) imburse
    The company will reimburse you for your expenses for the business trip.
    • 2006 May 9, Penn Jillette, Michael Goudeau, quoting Rudy, 15:35 from the start, in Penn Radio[1]:
      You can tell this funny monkey story, but please keep and mind and tell people that the man who lost all his fruit to the monkeys was entirely reimbursed.

Hypernyms

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. ^ reimburse, v.”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
  2. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “reimburse”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

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