noun.
The act of paying; the delivery of money as payment, in the course of business.
noun.
More specifically, in law, the discharge of a pecuniary obligation by money or what is accepted as the equivalent of a specific sum of money; “the satisfaction, by or in the name of the debtor, to the creditor, of what is due, with the object to put an end to the obligation” (Goudsmit).
noun.
The thing given in discharge of a debt or fulfilment of a promise; recompense; requital; reward.
noun.
Hence, figuratively, chastisement; punishment.