1.
compensation; reimbursement; paying for damages
Paying money to make up for loss or damage one has caused. Typically used when someone breaks, loses, or damages another person's property.
壊したものは弁償してください。
Please pay for what you broke.
友達の本をなくしてしまい、弁償した。
I lost my friend's book and paid to replace it.
お店の商品を落として割ってしまったが、弁償しなくていいと言われた。
I dropped and broke a product in the store, but they told me I didn't have to pay for it.
The verb form 弁償する means "to compensate" or "to pay for damages." This is a practical word that comes up in everyday situations — borrowing and losing things, accidentally breaking items, etc.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 弁償する (to compensate, to pay for)
- 弁償を求める (to demand compensation)
- 弁償金 (compensation money)
- 全額弁償 (full reimbursement)
More everyday than the legal term 賠償 (damages/reparations), which is used in formal legal contexts. 弁償 is what you say when you break your friend's vase; 賠償 is what a lawyer says in court.