Past tense of compensate; to make up for something or provide payment in return for loss or service.
From Latin compensatus, past participle of compensare 'to weigh together, balance', from com- 'together' + pensare 'to weigh'. Entered English in the 17th century, originally meaning to counterbalance.
The word's original meaning of 'weighing together' reflects ancient Roman scales of justice - compensation literally meant balancing one thing against another. In psychology, compensation describes unconsciously overachieving in one area to make up for perceived deficiencies in another.
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