把天平擺平的動作
這一支是動作那一端：你伸手把東西放到輕的那一側去。
verb · C1
To pay someone back for trouble, loss or effort — giving money or something else to make up for what they went through, or to thank them for helping you. It is a formal word.
補償／酬謝
核心畫面
One way to hold recompense: a balance that has been pushed down on one side. Someone has lost time, money or peace — or has done you a favour — and the two sides no longer sit level. Recompense is putting something on the light side until they do. The verb is the act of putting it there; the noun is the thing you put.
recompense 可以想成「一把被壓歪的天平」。有人因為某件事損失了時間、金錢或安寧，或者反過來，有人幫了你一個…更多收起
recompense 可以想成「一把被壓歪的天平」。有人因為某件事損失了時間、金錢或安寧，或者反過來，有人幫了你一個大忙，兩邊就不平了。這個字做的事，就是往輕的那一邊放東西，放到看起來公平為止。動詞是「放上去」這個動作，名詞是「放上去的那個東西」。也因為這樣，它同時可以講賠償，也可以講酬謝。From the word’s history
Recompense goes back through Old French to Late Latin recompensare: re- 'again' plus compensare 'to balance out'. The balance is inside the word itself.
recompense 經中古英文、古法文回到後期拉丁文 recompensare：re-（再一次）加上 compensare（把兩邊擺平）。也就是說，天平這個畫面不是後來配上去的比喻，它本來就在字裡面。
Wiktionary entries supplied in this packet (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1180204496:9577 for the verb and kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1180189495:15001 for the noun): 'from Late Latin recompensare, from Latin re- (again) + compensare (to balance out)'.
Two branches
放上天平的那個東西
這一支是東西那一端：同一個畫面，但指的是被放上去的那筆錢或那件事。
noun · C1
Money or something else given to someone to make up for trouble or loss they have suffered, or as a reward for their help. It is a formal word, and it is often used without a or the.
補償（金）／酬勞