entry
indemnity
/ɪnˈdɛmnəti/Protection against loss, damage, or legal liability
From Latin in- (not) + Latin damnum (damage).
from Late Latin indemnitās (“security
from Old French indemnité (14c.)
+1 more sourceWord Ancestry
from Late Latin indemnitās (“security
from Old French indemnité (14c.)
+1 more sourcePicture a Roman ledger recording a loss: damnum was the unpleasant entry, the damage that had actually happened. Add Latin in-, meaning “not,” and indemnis described someone who had escaped unharmed—a person standing outside the reach of the loss. By the 14th century, French legal language had turned that condition into indemnité, and English borrowed it as indempnite in the mid-15th century. The word later split into two legal directions: an exemption from liability, recorded by the 1640s, and compensation for loss, a sense documented from 1793. Modern contracts use indemnity as a kind of linguistic safety net: if trouble falls, someone else has promised to catch the bill.
The Story
Picture a Roman ledger recording a loss: damnum was the unpleasant entry, the damage that had actually happened. Add Latin in-, meaning “not,” and indemnis described someone who had escaped unharmed—a person standing outside the reach of the loss. By the 14th century, French legal language had turned that condition into indemnité, and English borrowed it as indempnite in the mid-15th century. The word later split into two legal directions: an exemption from liability, recorded by the 1640s, and compensation for loss, a sense documented from 1793. Modern contracts use indemnity as a kind of linguistic safety net: if trouble falls, someone else has promised to catch the bill.
Modern Usage
A mocked or disparaged legal term for contractual fine print
Notable References
- Urban Dictionary entry criticizing indemnity clauses
Kin & Kindred
From 'in-'·not, without, or opposite of
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'damnum'·damage, loss, or harm
Derived Terms
English words from this root