different between subsidise vs underwrite

English

Verb

subsidise (third-person singular simple present subsidises, present participle subsidising, simple past and past participle subsidised)

1. Non-Oxford British English standard spelling of subsidize.

Derived terms

• cross-subsidise

Anagrams

• subsidies

English

Etymology

From Middle English underwriten, from Old English underwr?tan (“to write at the foot of, write under, subscribe”), equivalent to under- +? write. Compare Dutch onderschrijven (“to endorse”), German unterschreiben (“to sign; endorse”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??nd??a?t/, /?nd???a?t/

Verb

underwrite (third-person singular simple present underwrites, present participle underwriting, simple past underwrote, past participle underwritten)

1. (transitive) To write below or under; subscribe.
2. (transitive, intransitive, obsolete) To subscribe (a document, policy etc.) with one's name.
3. (transitive) To sign; to put one's name to.
4. (transitive) To agree to pay by signing one's name; subscribe.
5. (transitive) Specifically, to assume financial responsibility for something, and guarantee it against failure.
6. (intransitive, insurance) To act as an underwriter.
   • 1810, Samuel Marshall, Of marine insurance

     The broker who procures the insurance […] ought not, by underwriting the policy, to deprive the parties of his unbiased testimony.

7. (transitive) To support, lend support to, guarantee the basis of.
8. (obsolete, transitive) To submit to; put up with.

Derived terms

• underwriter
• underwriting

Translations