compensate

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word compensate. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word compensate, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say compensate in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word compensate you have here. The definition of the word compensate will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofcompensate, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin compensatus, past participle of compensare (“to weight together one thing against another, balance, make good, later also shorten, spare”), from com- (“together”) + pensare (“to weight”).

Pronunciation

Verb

compensate (third-person singular simple present compensates, present participle compensating, simple past and past participle compensated)

  1. To do (something good) after (something bad) happens
  2. To pay or reward someone in exchange for work done or some other consideration.
    It is hard work, but they will compensate you well for it.
  3. (transitive, intransitive) To make up for; to do something in place of something else; to correct, satisfy; to reach an agreement such that the scales are literally or (metaphorically) balanced; to equalize or make even.
    His loud voice cannot compensate for a lack of personality.
    To compensate me for his tree landing on my shed, my neighbor paved my driveway.
    • 1631, Francis [Bacon], “(please specify |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. , 3rd edition, London: William Rawley; rinted by J H for William Lee , →OCLC:
      The length of the night and the dews thereof do compensate the heat of the day.
    • 1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Solomon on the Vanity of the World. A Poem in Three Books.”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: Jacob Tonson , and John Barber , →OCLC, (please specify the page):
      , Preface
      The pleasures of life do not compensate the miseries.
  4. To adjust or adapt to a change, often a harm or deprivation.
    I don't like driving that old car because it always steers a little to the left so I'm forever compensating for that when I drive it. Trust me, it gets annoying real fast.
    To compensate for his broken leg, Gary uses crutches.

Conjugation

Conjugation of compensate
infinitive (to) compensate
present tense past tense
1st-person singular compensate compensated
2nd-person singular compensate, compensatest† compensated, compensatedst†
3rd-person singular compensates, compensateth† compensated
plural compensate
subjunctive compensate compensated
imperative compensate —
participles compensating compensated

†Archaic or obsolete.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

compensate

  1. inflection of compensare:
    1. second-person plural present indicative
    2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

compensate f pl

  1. feminine plural of compensato

Latin

Verb

compēnsāte

  1. second-person plural present active imperative of compēnsō

Spanish

Verb

compensate

  1. second-person singular voseo imperative of compensar combined with te
Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia