pension

Etymology 1

From Middle English pencioun, pensioun, from Anglo-Norman pencione, Old French pencion, and their source, Latin pēnsiō (“payment, weight, rent, compensation”), from the participle stem of pendō (“to weigh”).

noun

1. An annuity paid regularly as benefit due to a retired employee, serviceman etc. in consideration of past services, originally and chiefly by a government but also by various private pension schemes.
   Many old people depend on their pension to pay the bills.
2. (obsolete) A wage or fee.
3. (obsolete) A charge or expense of some kind; a tax.
4. A sum paid to a clergyman in place of tithes.
5. (now historical) A regular allowance paid to support a royal favourite, or as patronage of an artist or scholar.

verb

1. (transitive) To grant a pension to.
2. (transitive) To force (someone) to retire on a pension.

Etymology 2

From French pension, from Old French pencion, as etymology 1 above. Doublet of pensione.

noun

1. A boarding house or small hotel, especially in continental Europe, which typically offers lodging and certain meals and services.
   A pension had somewhat less to offer than a hotel; it was always smaller, and never elegant; it sometimes offered breakfast, and sometimes not 1978, John Irving, The World According to Garp
2. (obsolete) A boarding school in France, Belgium, Switzerland, etc.