A.Word.A.Day --ex gratia

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ex gratia

PRONUNCIATION:

(eks GRAY-shee-uh)

MEANING:

adverb, adjective: As a favor or gesture of goodwill, rather than from any legal requirement.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin ex (out of) + gratia (favor, kindness). First recorded use: 1769.

NOTES:

When they say they are making a payment ex gratia, it is more often than not, not ex gratia, but because of their culpability.

USAGE:

"Lumka Oliphant said, 'The payment of Rand 1000 is made ex gratia as Roadlink is indemnified by our terms and conditions.'"
Wendy Knowler; The Missing Link in Passenger Satisfaction; Independent (Johannesburg, South Africa); Jun 9, 2010.

"'We decided that we will give $20,000 as an ex-gratia payment for the health problems they may have,' Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn said."
Stalling Agent Orange Suit Costs Ottawa $7.8M; CBC News (Toronto, Canada); Jun 24, 2010.

See more usage examples of ex gratia in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

I have never started a poem yet whose end I knew. Writing a poem is discovering. -Robert Frost, poet (1874-1963)

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