reimburse

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ˌriɪmˈbɝs/ UK /ˌriːɪmˈbɜːs/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to repay a person for money they have spent or lost

The company will reimburse you for any travel expenses.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to repay a person for money... repay refund recompense compensate remunerate indemnify

Opposites

charge withhold

Word family

Derived forms reimbursementreimbursedreimbursingreimbursable

Related forms disbursepursebursar

Simplified etymology

Reimburse, recorded from the late 16th century, derives from Latin bursa, which meant both “money bag” and “leather” or “animal skin” and is also the source of purse.

Etymology

From re- ('back') + imburse ('to put in a purse, pay'), from Medieval Latin imbursare, from in- ('in') + bursa ('purse'), from Ancient Greek bursa ('hide, leather').

re- Latin bursa la-med

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# reimburse

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ˌriɪmˈbɝs/
**IPA (UK):** /ˌriːɪmˈbɜːs/

## Meanings
1. to repay a person for money they have spent or lost

## Examples
- The company will reimburse you for any travel expenses.

## Synonyms
- repay
- refund
- recompense
- compensate
- remunerate
- indemnify

## Antonyms
- charge
- withhold

## Derived Forms
- reimbursement
- reimbursed
- reimbursing
- reimbursable

## Related Forms
- disburse
- purse
- bursar

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: re-
- Root: bursa

## Etymology
From re- ('back') + imburse ('to put in a purse, pay'), from Medieval Latin imbursare, from in- ('in') + bursa ('purse'), from Ancient Greek bursa ('hide, leather').

## AI Etymology
Reimburse comes from re- ('back') + imburse ('to put in a purse, pay'), from Medieval Latin imbursare, from in- ('in') + bursa ('purse'), from Ancient Greek bursa ('hide, leather'). The historical chain includes Latin re-, Latin bursa, and Ancient Greek bursa. Older glosses in the chain include "back", "to put in a purse, pay", "in", and "purse", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, reimburse is best read as compound and borrowing, yielding an English verb shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a verb, with the sense "to repay a person for money they have spent or lost". English derivatives include reimbursement, reimbursed, reimbursing, and reimbursable; related forms include disburse, purse, and bursar. The result is an English verb whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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