▪ I. payment1
(ˈpeɪmənt)
Also 4–5 paiement, 5 pament, 5–6 paymente, payement(e, 6–7 paiment, (6 -e).
[a. F. paiement (12–13th c. in Hatz.-Darm.), f. payer to pay: see -ment. Cf. Pr. pagamen, Sp., It. pagamento.]
1. The action, or an act, of paying; the remuneration of a person with money or its equivalent; the giving of money, etc. in return for something or in discharge of a debt.
† bills of payment: vouchers or receipts for moneys paid, receipted bills. equation of payments: see equation 4.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 597 And þou to payment com hym byfore. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 297 The jueler anon forth fette The gold and made his paiement. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 133 Good pament to al men he makyd. 1465 J. Paston in P. Lett. II. 219 He must inquere..what mony he hath payd to all men..and see his billes of payment, and take therof a titelyng. 1559 Mirr. Mag., Warwick xv, Their paimentes wer delayd. 1686 tr. Chardin's Trav. Persia 9 The Sellers would take their Pieces of Five Sous in payment. a 1732 Gay Fables ii. iii. 98 'Twas agreed..His payments should in corn be made. 1892 Pall Mall G. 28 July 2/1 It was Mr. Lowe who first introduced the great principle of payment by results. 1893 Bithell Counting-ho. Dict. s.v., When goods are offered in exchange for goods, it is popularly distinguished as ‘payment in kind’. |
b. Const. of the thing given or discharged (money, a debt, etc.).
| c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 43 If payment of dette be so remewed. 1503 Priv. Purse Exp. Eliz. York (1830) 92 Payement of a bill. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. ii. i. 130 The paiment of a hundred thousand Crownes. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) III. 325 Before the day of payment of the half year's rent. |
c. Const. of the person who is paid.
| 1838 People's Charter (in Chartist Circular 5 Oct. 1839, 7/2), Payment of Members. 1. Be it enacted that every Member of the House of Commons..shall be paid {pstlg}500 per annum. |
† d. Const. of the thing bought (cf. pay v.1 12).
| 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 2168 They..pynche at the payment of a poddynge prycke. |
2. A sum of money (or other thing) paid; pay, wages; price.
| c 1449 Pecock Repr. (Rolls) II. 392 Tithis and offringis and other like paymentis. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop v. iv, He demaunded his sallary and payment. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 44 Most of those payments fall to the Officers and receivers shares. 1722 De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 45 Two or three small payments of money, which..lay by themselves. 1878 Jevons Prim. Pol. Econ. vi. §43. 53 Wages..are the payments received by a labourer in return for his labour. |
† b. to run for good payment (fig.): to ‘pass current’, be generally accepted or believed. Obs.
| 1579–80 North Plutarch (1656) 851 Every man thought he had beene slaine, and it ran for good payment among all the Grecians. |
3. fig. The action, or an act, of rendering to a person anything due, deserved, or befitting, or of discharging an obligation; the infliction of punishment or retribution, the giving of reward or satisfaction, a yield in return for labour, etc.; the thing so rendered or given.
| 13.. Coer de L. 6097 Whenne the Sarezynes hadden syghte, Hou plente was hys payment, Non ther durst abyde hys dent. 1375 Barbour Bruce vi. 148 [Bruce] sa gud payment can thaim ma, That fiff-sum in the furd he slew. 1470–85 Malory Arthur vi. x, Syre launcelot..clafe his hede and neck vnto the throte. Now hast thou thy payement that long thou hast deserued. 1581 W. Fleetwood in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. II. 284 We examined all the seyd roogs and gave theym substanciall payment. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage v. iii. 466 The Countrey is so fertile, that at what time soeuer corne be put into the ground, the paiment is good with increase. 1738 C. Wesley Hymn, ‘Father of Lights, from Whom proceeds’ ii, Blessings, the Payment of the Poor, Our Lips and Hearts return. 1884 Pae Eustace 76, I never forget payment for a blow. |
4. attrib. and Comb.
| 1581 Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 386 To stay all payment-making. 1800 Asiat. Ann. Reg., Proc. Parl. 23/2 On the payment side, the customs and freight are calculated..on the quantity of goods expected. 1892 Daily News 26 Mar. 3/1 A House of Commons elected under a payment system. |
▪ II. payment2 rare.
[f. pay v.2 + -ment.]
The action of paying a ship's bottom, etc. (see pay v.2); concr. the composition used for this.
| 1778 Pryce Min. Cornub. Contents i. iii, No payment, however poisonous, will prevent the Teredo-worm from boring ships bottoms. |
▪ III. payment
obs. form of pavement.