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Webster 1913 Edition


Subsidy

Sub′si-dy

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Subsidies
(#)
.
[L.
subsidium
the troops stationed in reserve in the third line of battlem reserve, support, help, fr.
subsidere
to sit down, lie in wait: cf. F.
subside
. See
Subside
.]
1.
Support; aid; cooperation; esp., extraordinary aid in money rendered to the sovereign or to a friendly power.
They advised the king to send speedy aids, and with much alacrity granted a great rate of
subsidy
.
Bacon.
Subsidies were taxes, not immediately on on property, but on persons in respect of their reputed estates, after the nominal rate of 4s. the pound for lands, and 2s. 8d. for goods.
Blackstone.
2.
Specifically: A sum of money paid by one sovereign or nation to another to purchase the cooperation or the neutrality of such sovereign or nation in war.
3.
A grant from the government, from a municipal corporation, or the like, to a private person or company to assist the establishment or support of an enterprise deemed advantageous to the public; a subvention;
as, a
subsidy
to the owners of a line of ocean steamships
.
Syn. – Tribute; grant.
Subsidy
,
Tribute
. A subsidy is voluntary; a tribute is exacted.

Webster 1828 Edition


Subsidy

SUB'SIDY

,
Noun.
[L. subsidium, from subsido, literally to be or sit under or by.]
1.
Aid in money; supply given; a tax;something furnished for aid, as by the people to their prince; as the subsidies granted formerly to the kings of England.
Subsidies were a tax, not immediately on property,but on persons in respect of their reputed estates, after the nominal rate of 4s. the pound for lands, and 2s. 8d. for goods.
2.
A sum of money paid by one prince or nation to another, to purchase the service of auxiliary troops, or the aid of such foreign prince in a war against an enemy. Thus Great Britain paid subsidies to Austria and Prussia, to engage them to resist the progress of the French.

Definition 2024


subsidy

subsidy

English

Noun

subsidy (plural subsidies)

  1. Financial support or assistance, such as a grant.
    Manufacturing firms are supported by government subsidies in some countries.
    • 2013 August 10, Lexington, Keeping the mighty honest”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:
      British journalists shun complete respectability, feeling a duty to be ready to savage the mighty, or rummage through their bins. Elsewhere in Europe, government contracts and subsidies ensure that press barons will only defy the mighty so far.
  2. (dated) Money granted by parliament to the British Crown.

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