pay
see also: Pay
Pronunciation Etymology 1
Translations
Pay
Proper noun
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.004
see also: Pay
Pronunciation Etymology 1
From Middle English payen, from Old French paiier, from Medieval Latin pācāre from Latin pācō.
Verbpay (pays, present participle paying; simple past and past participle paid)
- (transitive) To give money or other compensation to in exchange for goods or services.
- he paid him to clean the place up
- he paid her off the books and in kind where possible
- 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC ↗:
- This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything.
- (ambitransitive) To discharge, as a debt or other obligation, by giving or doing what is due or required.
- she offered to pay the bill
- he has paid his debt to society
- (transitive) To be profitable for.
- It didn't pay him to keep the store open any more.
- (transitive) To give (something else than money).
- to pay attention
- c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act V, scene i]:
- not paying me a welcome
- 1909, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], “A Court Ball”, in The Squire’s Daughter, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, published 1919, →OCLC ↗, page 9 ↗:
- They stayed together during three dances, went out on to the terrace, explored wherever they were permitted to explore, paid two visits to the buffet, and enjoyed themselves much in the same way as if they had been school-children surreptitiously breaking loose from an assembly of grown-ups.
- (intransitive) To be profitable or worth the effort.
- crime doesn’t pay
- it will pay to wait
- (intransitive) To discharge an obligation or debt.
- He was allowed to go as soon as he paid.
- (intransitive) To suffer consequences.
- He paid for his fun in the sun with a terrible sunburn.
- (transitive) To admit that a joke, punchline, etc., was funny.
Conjugation of pay
infinitive | (to) pay | ||
---|---|---|---|
present tense | past tense | ||
1st-person singular | pay | paid, payed† | |
2nd-person singular | pay, payest† | paid, paidest†, paidst†, payed†, payedst† | |
3rd-person singular | pays, payeth† | paid, payed† | |
plural | pay | ||
subjunctive | pay | paid, payed† | |
imperative | pay | — | |
participles | paying | paid, payed† |
†Archaic or obsolete.
- French: payer
- German: bezahlen, zahlen
- Italian: pagare
- Portuguese: pagar
- Russian: плати́ть
- Spanish: pagar, comprar, cashquear (Guatemala)
- French: payer
- German: lohnen
- Portuguese: compensar
- Russian: окупа́ться
- Spanish: pagar, redituar, valer la pena, salir a cuenta
- French: payer
- French: payer
pay
- Money given in return for work; salary or wages.
- Many employers have rules designed to keep employees from comparing their pays.
- 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter X, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC ↗:
- The skipper Mr. Cooke had hired at Far Harbor was a God-fearing man with a luke warm interest in his new billet and employer, and had only been prevailed upon to take charge of the yacht after the offer of an emolument equal to half a year's sea pay of an ensign in the navy.
- French: paye, paie
- German: Gehalt
- Italian: paga
- Portuguese: pagamento
- Russian: зарпла́та
- Spanish: pago, paga
pay (not comparable)
- Operable or accessible on deposit of coins.
- pay toilet
- Pertaining to or requiring payment.
- pay television
From Old French peier, from
pay (pays, present participle paying; simple past and past participle payed)
- (nautical, transitive) To cover (the bottom of a vessel, a seam, a spar, etc.) with tar or pitch, or a waterproof composition of tallow, resin, etc.; to smear.
- Spanish: calafatear
Pay
Proper noun
- A unisex given name.
- Surname.
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.004
