# pension

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈpɛnʃən/ · frequency rank #4,969

## Definitions
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.
2. A wage or fee.
3. A charge or expense of some kind; a tax.
4. A sum paid to a clergyman in place of tithes.
5. A regular allowance paid to support a royal favourite, or as patronage of an artist or scholar.

## Etymology
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”).

## Easily confused with
- **person** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pension-vs-person)
- **pinion** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pension-vs-pinion)
- **Persian** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pension-vs-persian)
- **pensive** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pension-vs-pensive)
- **pensioner** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pension-vs-pensioner)
- **passion** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/passion-vs-pension)

## Common misspellings (11)
`epnsion`, `penison`, `pennsion`, `pensino`, `pensionn`, `pensoin`, `penssion`, `pention`, `pesnion`, `pnesion`, `ppension`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/pension