Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

pensioner

/ˈpɛnʃənɚ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.87 in modern English

Syllables
pen-sion-er
IPA
/ˈpɛnʃənɚ/
11
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Someone who lives on a pension, especially the retirement or old age pension.

Canadian usage; British usage

noun

Someone who is at the age at which one typically receives a pension; an elderly person.

noun

A student who is not dependent on any foundation for support, but pays all university charges.

British usage; Obsolete

Etymology

From Middle English pensioner, from Anglo-Norman pensionner and Old French pensionnier, from Medieval Latin pēnsiōnārius. By surface analysis, pension + -er.

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: pensioner, pensionner, pensionnier, pēnsiōnārius

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈpɛnʃənɚ/
  • British English: /ˈpɛnʃənə/

Usage

Inflected Forms

pensioners (plural) pencioner (alternative, obsolete)

Derived Forms

nonpensioner pensionership

Phrases

Chelsea pensioner early retirement pensioner gentleman-pensioner Greenwich pensioner old-age pensioner old age pensioner

Frequently Paired Words

sizar

Synonyms

retiree older adult senior citizen commoner pensionary

Questions

How do you pronounce pensioner?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈpɛnʃənɚ/.
What does pensioner mean?
Someone who lives on a pension, especially the retirement or old age pension.
Where does pensioner come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce pensioner

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “pensioner”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈpɛnʃənɚ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “pensioner”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “pensioner” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.