What does compensational mean?
Compensational is a formal English adjective describing something that relates to, consists of, or serves as compensation — that is, something given or done to offset a loss, injury, deficiency, or shortcoming elsewhere. Derived ultimately from the Latin verb compensare, "to weigh together" or "counterbalance," the word belongs to a family that includes the far more common compensate, compensation, and compensatory. In practice, compensational is rare: most modern legal, psychological, and general writing favors compensatory when describing things like damages, mechanisms, or measures that make up for a deficit. Compensational tends to appear in older texts, technical discussions, and occasional British usage, often where the emphasis falls simply on a connection with compensation rather than on an actively compensating function. Readers encountering it can safely understand it as "relating to compensation," though choosing compensatory is usually the safer stylistic option today.
adjectiveRelating to, involving, or serving as compensation; making up for something lost, lacking, or deficient.
- Relating to, consisting of, or serving as compensation for loss, injury, or deficiency.
"The scheme's compensational payments helped farmers recover from the drought losses."
"The court awarded compensational damages to cover the victim's medical expenses."
"In his theory of psychological development, Adler described compensational efforts by which individuals offset perceived weaknesses."
Meet "compensational" — the rarely seen sibling of "compensatory," built from Latin pensare, "to weigh," so every act of making amends is literally a matter of balancing the scales.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of compensational
Compensational derives from compensation, which traces back through Latin compensatio to the verb compensare, formed from com- ("together") plus pensare, a frequentative of pendere ("to hang, weigh"). The underlying image is one of weighing two sides against each other so they balance — the literal root of all "making up for." Its closest relatives are compensate and compensation, and more distantly other pendere derivatives such as recompense, dispense, pension, and pensive.
Related word forms
How compensational is actually used
This is a formal, relatively uncommon adjective. In most modern contexts writers choose "compensatory" instead, which is the established term in law, psychology, and everyday usage; "compensational" survives mainly in older texts, technical writing, and occasional British usage. Because it can strike readers as awkward or nonstandard, prefer "compensatory" unless a specific stylistic reason dictates otherwise.
Easily confused with compensational
"Compensatory" is the standard, widely used adjective meaning serving to offset or make up for something, while "compensational" is a much rarer variant that stresses mere relation or connection to compensation rather than the compensating function itself.
"Compensation" is the noun denoting something given or received as payment or reparation, whereas "compensational" is an adjective describing something related to such payment or reparation.