indemnity

Etymology

From late Middle English indempnite, from Middle French indemnité, from Late Latin indemnitas (“security from damage”), from Latin indemnis (“undamaged”), from in- (“not”) + damnum (“damage”).

noun

1. Security from damage, loss, or penalty.
2. (law) An obligation or duty upon an individual to incur the losses of another.
3. Repayment; compensation for loss or injury.
   It would have been wise to modify rather than revoke the proclamation. But the Allies went further. Now, for the first time, were heard the words of indemnity for the past, and security for the future. 1859, John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, The Life and Times of Charles James Fox, volume II, London: Richard Bentley, page 363
4. (law) The right of an injured party to shift the loss onto the party responsible for the loss.
5. (insurance) A principle of insurance which provides that when a loss occurs, the insured should be restored to the approximate financial condition occupied before the loss occurred, no better, no worse.