[syn: damages, amends, indemnity, indemnification, restitution, redress]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Indemnity \In*dem"ni*ty\, n.; pl. Indemnities. [L. indemnitas,
fr. indemnis uninjured: cf. F. indemnit['e]. See
Indemnify.]
[1913 Webster]
1. Security; insurance; exemption from loss or damage, past
or to come; immunity from penalty, or the punishment of
past offenses; amnesty.
[1913 Webster]
Having first obtained a promise of indemnity for the
riot they had committed. --Sir W.
Scott.
[1913 Webster]
2. Indemnification, compensation, or remuneration for loss,
damage, or injury sustained.
[1913 Webster]
They were told to expect, upon the fall of Walpole,
a large and lucrative indemnity for their pretended
wrongs. --Ld. Mahon.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Insurance is a contract of indemnity. --Arnould. The
owner of private property taken for public use is
entitled to compensation or indemnity. --Kent.
[1913 Webster]
Act of indemnity (Law), an act or law passed in order to
relieve persons, especially in an official station, from
some penalty to which they are liable in consequence of
acting illegally, or, in case of ministers, in consequence
of exceeding the limits of their strict constitutional
powers. These acts also sometimes provide compensation for
losses or damage, either incurred in the service of the
government, or resulting from some public measure.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
indemnity
n 1: protection against future loss [syn: indemnity,
insurance]
2: legal exemption from liability for damages
3: a sum of money paid in compensation for loss or injury [syn:
damages, amends, indemnity, indemnification,
restitution, redress]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
95 Moby Thesaurus words for "indemnity":
absolution, amends, amnesty, assurance, atonement, award,
balancing, blood money, bond, certification, commutation,
compensation, composition, compromise, consideration,
counteraction, counterbalancing, damages, disbursement,
endorsement, exculpation, excuse, exemption, exoneration,
expiation, expiatory offering, grace, guarantee, guaranty, guerdon,
honorarium, immunity, impunity, indemnification, insurance,
lex talionis, making amends, making good, making right, making up,
meed, nolle prosequi, non prosequitur, nonprosecution, offsetting,
pardon, payment, peace offering, piaculum, price, privilege,
propitiation, protection, quid pro quo, quittance, reckoning,
reclamation, recompense, rectification, redemption, redress,
reimbursement, remission, remission of sin, remuneration,
reparation, repayment, reprieve, reprisal, requital, requitement,
restitution, restoration, retaliation, retribution, return,
revenge, reward, safety, salvage, satisfaction, security, shrift,
smart money, solatium, sparing, squaring, stay, stocks and bonds,
substitution, surety, tie, warrant, warranty, wergild
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):
INDEMNITY. That which is given to a person to prevent his suffering damage.
2 McCord, 279. Sometimes it signifies diminution; a tenant who has been
interrupted in the enjoyment of his lease may require an indemnity from the
lessor, that is, a reduction of his rent.
2. It is a rule established in all just governments that, when private
property is required for public, use, indemnity shall be given by the public
to the owner. This is the case in the United States. See Code Civil, art.
545. See Damnification.
3. Contracts made for the purpose of indemnifying a person for doing an
act for which he could be indicted, or an agreement to, compensate a public
officer for doing an act which is forbidden by law, or omitting to do one
which the law commands, are absolutely void. But when the agreement with an
officer was not to induce him to neglect his duty, but to test a legal
right, as to indemnify him for not executing an execution, it was held to be
good. 1 Bouv. Inst. n. 780.