recompense
/ˈɹɛkəmˌpɛns/noun, verb
recompense is spelled R-E-C-O-M-P-E-N-S-E. The wrong spelling people search most is recompence: about 250 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 10 of all searches for the word. Recompense is a noun meaning “An equivalent returned for anything given, done, or suffered; compensation; reward; amends; requital”. The plural of recompense is recompenses.
How many letters and syllables are in recompense?
| Letters | 10: R-E-C-O-M-P-E-N-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 45,947th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, recompence, about 250 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell recompense?
Recompense is spelled R-E-C-O-M-P-E-N-S-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 10 of the searches for recompense in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is recompense?
Recompense appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,947th 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 recompense?
- US /ˈɹɛkəmˌpɛns/
Recompense has 3 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-recompense.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of recompense
- recompenses plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- recompensing participle, present
- recompensed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does recompense mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An equivalent returned for anything given, done, or suffered; compensation; reward; amends; requital.
- 2
That which compensates for an injury, or other type of harm or damage.
He offered money as recompense for the damage, but what the injured party wanted was an apology.
verb
- 1
To reward or repay (someone) for something done, given etc.
- 2
To give compensation for an injury, or other type of harm or damage.
The judge ordered the defendant to recompense the plaintiff by paying $100.
- 3
To give (something) in return; to pay back; to pay, as something earned or deserved.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Recompense in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | récompense , récompenser |
| German | Entschädigung , entschädigen |
| Portuguese | compensação , compensar , recompensar |
| Spanish | recompensa , recompensar |
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 recompense come from?
From Middle English recompense, borrowed from Old French recompense or Medieval Latin recompensa.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).