Origin: Latin suffix -ment
Payment has 5 different meanings across 2 categories:
a sum of money paid or a claim discharged
"The court ordered an immediate payment to settle the outstanding medical debt from last year."
the act of paying money
The act of paying.
In plain English: A payment is money that you give to someone to buy something or pay for a service.
"He waited in line to make his payment for the new car."
Usage: Use "payment" to refer specifically to the money or goods given in exchange for a service or product, rather than the abstract act of paying. It often appears in contexts like "make a payment" or "method of payment."
A surname, from French.
The word payment comes from Old French and originally meant an act of paying. It entered English as a noun formed by adding the suffix -ment to the verb pay.