com·pen·sate / ˈkämpənˌsāt/ • v. 1. [tr.] recompense (someone) for loss, suffering, or injury, typically by the award of a sum of money: payments were made to farmers to compensate them for cuts in subsidies. ∎  pay (someone) for work performed: he will be richly compensated for his efforts.2. [intr.] (compensate for) make up for (something unwelcome or unpleasant) by exerting an opposite force or effect: officials have boosted levies to compensate for huge deficits. ∎  act to neutralize or correct (a deficiency or abnormality in a physical property or effect): the output voltage rises, compensating for the original fall. ∎  Psychol. attempt to conceal or offset (a disability or frustration) by development in another direction: they identified with radical movements to compensate for their inability to relate to individual human beings.3. [tr.] Mechanics provide (a pendulum) with extra or less weight to neutralize the effects of temperature, etc.DERIVATIVES: com·pen·sa·tive / kəmˈpensətiv; ˈkämpənˌsātiv/ adj.com·pen·sa·tor / -ˌsātər/ n.

compensate XVII. f. pp. stem of L. compensāre weigh (one) against another, counterbalance, f. COM- + pensāre, frequent. of pendere weigh; see prec. and -ATE 3.
So compensation XIV. — (O)F. — L.