Emily Dickinson Lexicon

COM'PEN-SATE, v.t. [L. compenso; con and penso, to prize or value, from pendo, to weigh, to value. See Pendent.]

1. To give equal value to; to recompense; to give an equivalent for services, or an amount lost or bestowed; to return or bestow that which makes good a loss, or is estimated a sufficient remuneration; as, to compensate a laborer for his work, or a merchant for his losses.
2. To be equivalent in value or effect to; to counterbalance; to make amends for. The length of the night and the dews do compensate the heat of the day. – Bacon. The pleasures of sin never compensate the sinner for the miseries he suffers, even in this life. – Anon.