recoupment
UK[rɪˈkuːpmənt]US[rɪˈkuːpmənt]
n
The act of getting back an amount of money that has been spent or lost.
n
The act of compensating for or making up for something.
Morpheme Breakdown
re
coup
ment
re
again
coup
cut
ment
noun suffix
Etymology
The word "recoupment" narrates a financial and legal story of recovery. Its core, "coup", originates from the Greek kolaphos (a blow), which evolved into Latin colpus and then Old French coup, carrying the sense of a decisive strike or cut. The prefix "re-", meaning "back" or "again", was attached to this root, creating the verb "recoup" with the literal sense of "to cut back" or "to recover by force". The suffix "-ment" was then added to form the noun, concretizing the action or process. Thus, the modern abstract meaning of regaining lost money or compensation logically evolved from this older idea of striking back to recover what was cut away or lost.
Analysis
Structure: re (again) + coup (cut) + ment (noun suffix)
re: Latin origin, a prefix meaning "again" or "back".
coup: From Old French coup, colp, meaning "a blow" or "a cut", from Latin colpus (a blow), from Greek kolaphos (a blow, slap).
ment: Latin origin (-mentum), a suffix forming nouns that denote an action, process, or resulting state.
Examples
The lawsuit sought the recoupment of the initial investment.
The new policy allows for the recoupment of training costs if an employee leaves within a year.
The company's profits were insufficient for the recoupment of its substantial startup expenses.