Payment

How to spell payment

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce payment

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does payment mean?

1. nounAn amount of money given in return for goods, services, or to settle a debt.

Payment in a sentence

• The first payment on the car is due next month.

• She set up a monthly payment to clear the loan.

Where does payment come from?

Language of origin: French

The word comes from the Old French paiement, the act of paying, which was built on the verb paier, to pay. That French verb traces back to the Latin pacare, meaning to pacify or to satisfy, from pax, the word for peace. The link is logical once you see it: to pay a creditor was originally to placate or appease them, settling a debt and restoring peace. English took the noun in during the 1300s, and the everyday financial sense quickly overtook the older idea of pacifying. The same Latin pax sits behind the modern words peace and pacify, which is a neat reminder of why settling up feels like making peace.

How the word is built

• pay (to give money for goods or services)
• -ment (noun suffix: act or result of)