noun
compensation; reparation; indemnification
Refers to something given or paid to make up for damage, loss, or disadvantage. It is somewhat more abstract and formal than everyday words such as おわび or 埋め合わせ.
ダム建設で土地を失った住民は、十分な代償を求めた。
Residents who lost their land to the dam construction demanded adequate compensation.
noun
Figurative use for the negative price paid in order to achieve or obtain something, often in the pattern 〜の代償として.
成功の代償として、彼は健康を失った。
As the price of success, he lost his health.
noun
paying compensation on someone's behalf
Limited use for making compensation or reparation in place of another person. This sense is less common than the general meanings of compensation or cost.
「代償」には、本人に代わって償いをするという用法もある。
代償 also has a use meaning to make amends on someone else's behalf.
noun
biological compensation; compensatory response
Biology term for an organism, organ, or function making up for loss or impairment elsewhere; often appears in compounds such as 代償性.
片方の腎臓を失うと、残った腎臓に代償性肥大が起こることがある。
When one kidney is lost, compensatory hypertrophy may occur in the remaining kidney.
noun
psychological compensation; substitution
Psychology term for making up for a perceived deficiency or frustration through another behavior, attitude, or achievement.
彼の攻撃的な態度は、劣等感の代償と見られた。
His aggressive attitude was viewed as compensation for an inferiority complex.