annuity

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The annual payment of an allowance or income.
2. n. The right to receive this payment or the obligation to make this payment.
3. n. A contract or agreement by which one receives fixed payments on an investment for a lifetime or for a specified number of years.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A periodical payment of money, amounting to a fixed sum in each year, the moneys paid being either a gift or in consideration of a gross sum received. When the payment is continued for a certain period, as 10, 20, or 100 years, it is called a certain annuity; when it continues for an uncertain period, a contingent annuity; when the period is determined by the duration of one or more lives, a life annuity. A deferred or reversionary annuity is one that does not begin till after a certain period or number of years, or till the decease of a person, or some other future event. An annuity in possession is one which has already begun. Governments often raise money upon annuities; that is, for a certain sum advanced, the government contracts to pay a specific sum for life, or for a term of years.
2. n. The ligament which attaches the stapes to the rim of the fenestra ovalis.

Wiktionary

1. n. A specified income payable at stated intervals for a fixed or a contingent period, often for the recipient’s life, in consideration of a stipulated premium paid either in prior installment payments or in a single payment. For example, a retirement annuity paid to a public officer following his or her retirement.
2. n. The right to receive such an income.
3. n. The duty to make such a payment or payments.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A sum of money, payable yearly, to continue for a given number of years, for life, or forever; an annual allowance.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. income from capital investment paid in a series of regular payments