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Compensation vs Set-off - What's the difference?

compensation | set-off | Synonyms |

As nouns the difference between compensation and set-off

is that compensation is the act or principle of compensating while set-off is that which is set off against another thing; an offset.

compensation

English

(wikipedia compensation)

Noun

(en noun)
  • The act or principle of compensating.
    • (Emerson)
  • That which constitutes, or is regarded as, an equivalent; that which makes good the lack or variation of something else; that which compensates for loss or privation; amends; remuneration; recompense.
  • * Hallam
    • The parliament which dissolved the monastic foundations vouchsafed not a word toward securing the slightest compensation to the dispossessed owners.
  • * Burke
    • No pecuniary compensation can possibly reward them.
  • The extinction of debts of which two persons are reciprocally debtors by the credits of which they are reciprocally creditors; the payment of a debt by a credit of equal amount; a set-off.
  • A recompense or reward for some loss or service.
  • An equivalent stipulated for in contracts for the sale of real estate, in which it is customary to provide that errors in description, etc., shall not avoid, but shall be the subject of compensation.
  • The relationship between air temperature outside a building and a calculated target temperature for provision of air or water to contained rooms or spaces for the purpose of efficient heating. In building control systems the compensation curve is defined to a compensator for this purpose.

    • Synonyms

    * (act of compensating) restitution * (recompense or reward) restitution

    Derived terms

    * overcompensation

    set-off

    English

    Noun

  • That which is set off against another thing; an offset.
  • * D. Jerrold
    • I do not contemplate such a heroine as a set-off to the many sins imputed to me as committed against woman.
  • (dated) That which is used to improve the appearance of anything; a decoration; an ornament.
  • (legal) A counterclaim; a cross debt or demand; a distinct claim filed or set up by the defendant against the plaintiff's demand.
  • (printing) An offset.

    • Usage notes

    * In the legal sense, set-off'' differs from ''recoupment : the latter generally grows out of the same matter or contract with the plaintiff's claim, while the former grows out of distinct matter, and does not of itself deny the justice of the plaintiff's demand. (Webster 1913)