reimburse
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
to give someone back the money they spent on your behalf or for work.
to compensate a person for money they have already expended. Transitive — requires a direct object representing the person or the amount.
Simple“The company will reimburse you for your travel expenses after you submit the receipts.”
In context“The university agreed to reimburse the visiting professor for all reasonable costs associated with his international flight and accommodation.”
UsageCommonly used with the preposition 'for' to indicate the reason for the payment.
PitfallThe company reimbursed to me for the hotel. The company reimbursed me for the hotel.Do not use 'to' after reimburse; it is a transitive verb that takes the person as a direct object.
Synonyms - 02 C1 Advanced
to get back money that was spent from a specific fund or account.
to recoup or restore a specific sum of money that has been spent. Often used in technical or financial contexts regarding budgets.
Simple“The department needs to reimburse the petty cash fund by the end of the month.”
In context“The insurance payout allowed the firm to reimburse the capital reserves that had been depleted during the emergency repairs.”
UsageIn this sense, the direct object is the money or the fund being restored, rather than a person.
“He contacted his bank to explain the situation in the hope of being reimbursed.”
“Why, he asks, do colleges pay VAT costing £200m, while schools are reimbursed?”
1591, re- (“back”) + imburse (“pay”, literally “put in a purse”) (perhaps after Middle French rembourser or Italian rimborsàre), from Middle French embourser, from Old French en- (“in”) + borser (“to get money”), from borse (“purse”), from Medieval Latin bursa (English purse).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.