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pension

/ˈpɛnʃən/noun, verb

pension is spelled P-E-N-S-I-O-N: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,934th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pension means “An annuity paid regularly as benefit due to a retired employee, serviceman etc. in consideration of past services, originally and chiefly by a…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pension is pensions.

How many letters and syllables are in pension?

Letters7: P-E-N-S-I-O-N
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing17 times per million words; the 4,934th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is pension?

Pension appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,934th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce pension?

  • US /ˈpɛnʃən/
  • US [ˈpɛnʃn̩]
  • US /ˈpɪnʃən/

As a noun (“A boarding house or small hotel, especially in continental…”): /pɑ̃ˈsjɔ̃/, /pɑnˈsjoʊn/, /ˈpɒ̃sjɒ̃/.

Pension has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-pension.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with pension?

9 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as pension from its last stressed vowel (/ɛnʃən/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of pension

  • pensions plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • pensioning participle, present
  • pensioned participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does pension mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 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. 2

    obsoleteA wage or fee.

  3. 3

    obsoleteA charge or expense of some kind; a tax.

  4. 4

    A sum paid to a clergyman in place of tithes.

  5. 5

    A regular allowance paid to support a royal favourite, or as patronage of an artist or scholar.

  6. 6

    A boarding house or small hotel, especially in continental Europe, which typically offers lodging and certain meals and services.

  7. 7

    obsoleteA boarding school in France, Belgium, Switzerland, etc.

verb

  1. 1

    To grant a pension to.

  2. 2

    To force (someone) to retire on a pension.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Pension in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpension, retraite (regular payment due to a person in…), pensioner, pensionner (to grant a pension)
GermanPension, Rente (regular payment due to a person in…), pensionieren, in den Ruhestand versetzen (to force to retire)
Portuguesepensão, aposentadoria (regular payment due to a person in…), pensionar (to grant a pension), aposentar (to force to retire)
Spanishpensión (regular payment due to a person in…), pensionar (to grant a pension)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does pension come from?

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”). Doublet of pensione.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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