payment-by-installments
|pay-ment-by-in-stall-ments|
🇺🇸
/ˈpeɪ.mənt baɪ ɪnˈstɑːl.mənts/
🇬🇧
/ˈpeɪ.mənt baɪ ɪnˈstɔːl.mənts/
(payment by installments)
pay in parts / pay over time
Etymology
'payment' originates from Old French, specifically the word 'paiement', where 'paier' meant 'to pay'; 'installment' (also spelled 'instalment') originates from Latin via Medieval Latin, specifically the word 'installare', where 'in-' meant 'in' and the root related to 'stall/stand' meant 'to place or set'.
'payment' changed from Old French 'paiement' through Middle English into the modern English word 'payment'. 'Installment' developed from Medieval Latin 'installare' and Middle English forms like 'instalment' before becoming the modern 'installment/instalment'.
Initially, components like 'install' had the sense of 'setting or placing in position'; when combined with commerce-related terms, 'installment' came to mean 'a portion of a payment arranged over time'. Thus the phrase evolved to mean 'paying by parts' rather than any physical placing.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a method of paying for goods or services by dividing the total amount into multiple smaller payments scheduled over a period of time instead of paying the full amount at once.
They bought the appliance with payment-by-installments to spread the cost over six months.
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Noun 2
each individual partial payment made under a payment-by-installments arrangement (one of the scheduled installments).
Her payment-by-installments was due on the first of the month, but she paid late.
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Last updated: 2025/12/26 12:20