Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SUB'SI-DY, n. [Fr. subside; 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. Blackstone.
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.