Idioms for pay

Origin of pay

1
1150–1200; Middle English payen < Old French paier < Medieval Latin pācāre to satisfy, settle (a debt), Latin: to pacify (by force of arms). See peace

SYNONYMS FOR pay

19 remuneration, emolument, fee, honorarium, income, allowance. Pay, wage or wages, salary, stipend are terms for amounts of money or equivalent benefits, usually given at a regular rate or at regular intervals, in return for services. Pay is the general term: His pay went up every year. Wage usually designates the pay given at an hourly, daily, or weekly rate, often for manual or semiskilled work; wages usually means the cumulative amount paid at regular intervals for such work: an hourly wage; weekly wages. Salary designates a fixed, periodic payment for regular work or services, usually computed on a monthly or yearly basis: an annual salary paid in twelve equal monthly installments. Stipend designates a periodic payment, either as a professional salary or, more commonly, as a salary in return for special services or as a grant in support of creative or scholarly work: an annual stipend for work as a consultant; a stipend to cover living expenses.

British Dictionary definitions for pay back (1 of 3)

pay back

verb (tr, adverb)

to retaliate against to pay someone back for an insult
to give or do (something equivalent) in return for a favour, insult, etc
to repay (a loan)

noun payback

  1. the return on an investment
  2. Also called: payback period the time taken for a project to cover its outlay
  1. something done in order to gain revenge
  2. (as modifier)payback killings

British Dictionary definitions for pay back (2 of 3)

pay 1
/ (peɪ) /

verb pays, paying or paid

noun

Word Origin for pay

C12: from Old French payer, from Latin pācāre to appease (a creditor), from pāx peace

British Dictionary definitions for pay back (3 of 3)

pay 2
/ (peɪ) /

verb pays, paying or payed

(tr) nautical to caulk (the seams of a wooden vessel) with pitch or tar

Word Origin for pay

C17: from Old French peier, from Latin picāre, from pix pitch

Idioms and Phrases with pay back (1 of 2)

pay back

1

Repay a debt or a loan, as in I'll pay you back next month.

2

Also, pay back in someone's own coin. Revenge oneself, repay in kind, as in He thought he could get away with copying my plans, but I'll pay him back in his own coin. This expression refers to repaying a debt in exactly the same currency in which the money had been lent. [c. 1600]

Idioms and Phrases with pay back (2 of 2)

pay