payment
UK[ˈpeɪmənt]US[ˈpeɪmənt]
n
An amount of money that is paid or received.
n
The act or process of paying someone or something, or of being paid.
Morpheme Breakdown
pay
ment
pay
to give money
ment
noun suffix
Etymology
The word 'payment' originates from the Anglo-Norman French payment and Old French paiement. Its core, 'pay', traces back to the Latin verb pacare, meaning 'to pacify, appease, or settle'. This reveals the original logic: satisfying a debt was conceptually akin to creating peace or settling a dispute. The suffix '-ment', of Latin origin, was added to transform the action into a noun denoting the process or result. Thus, the modern abstract meaning of a transferred sum of money evolved directly from the concrete act of appeasing a creditor to achieve a state of settlement.
Analysis
Structure: pay (to give money) + ment (noun suffix)
- pay: From Old French paier, from Latin pacare meaning 'to pacify, satisfy (a creditor)'. It functions as the core verb root.
- ment: From Latin -mentum, a suffix forming nouns that denote an action, process, or resulting state. It functions as a nominalizer.
Examples
The first monthly payment for the car is due next week.
We only accept payment by credit card or electronic transfer.
He received a payment in recognition of his services.