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remittance

remittance

9 7.0
An amount of money sent to someone in another country as payment or a gift
  • noun
  • /rɪˈmɪtəns/
translation icon : remesa
  • In the 1990s, emigrant remittances alone accounted for 25% to 30% of the country's GDP (Carling 2002).
  • remittances and aid
  • worker remittances
  • send remittances

But the flow of remittances from both children as we consider them and adults attest to how common this was in the past.

Examples

  • Yemen's economy crumbled after its two main sources of hard currency, foreign aid and foreign remittances, were cut off.

    Academic text (1994)
  • These people will be able to send money home, international remittance, which is one of the major pain points of the current financial system.

  • More recently, remittance income to Syria topped out at close to $1 billion in 1980.

    Academic text (1999)
  • For Egypt, remittances have been a large proportion of its GNP since the late 1970s.

    Academic text (1999)
  • Egypt relies too much on historically volatile sources of income like oil, tourism, and remittances.

    Academic text (1999)
  • A trade deficit was being financed solely by workers' remittances from South Africa and Southern Rhodesia.

    Academic text (1992)
  • Jordanian remittances boomed from $21 million in 1972 to close to $1 billion in 1981-82.

    Academic text (1999)
  • He sent a generous remittance to help his family cover their living expenses.

  • Many families depend on the remittance sent by relatives working abroad.

  • The government has implemented regulations to facilitate the transfer of remittances from expatriates.

Synonyms

gift
vsremittance
338 1.0

Giving something to someone without payment or expecting something back

is money sent either to pay or to help someone abroad
payment
vsremittance
51 1.0

Something done or given to return help and make up for harm

is specifically money sent to someone in another place or country
remission
vsremittance
  • Archaic
1 6.5

Money sent to someone in another place, often regularly to support family

is a general money transfer not always official or arranged regularly
remittal
vsremittance
  • Archaic
8.4

Sending money to another person as a payment

is about the money amount sent rather than the action of sending

Antonyms

3 4.1

Someone does not pay money they owe

Compounds

remittance man
  • Offensive
9.9

A man who lives abroad, getting regular money from his family and often sent away by them

9.9

A person living abroad who receives regular money from their family back home

remittance woman
  • Offensive
9.9

A woman who lives abroad and gets regular money from a family that did not accept her

Surface Forms

remittance singular
remittances plural

Morphology

remittance = remit (transparent) = remit + ance

The noun is a straightforward nominalization of the verb 'remit' indicating the act or sum sent; learners who know 'remit' will typically infer this meaning.

Etymology

Remittance comes from the parts re- 'back' and mittere 'to send', the same root you see in transmit and mission. So a remittance is money 'sent' to someone, often to another place, which is why it means a payment or gift sent across a distance.