compensation和indemnity都有“賠償”或“補償”的含義。區(qū)別在于compensation更偏向于“賠償”，主要指導致?lián)p失的責任人或過錯人(wrongdoer)等直接向受害人或受損害人進行賠償[1]，如 He received 50 000 from the employer as a compensation for his loss of his right hand (他因失去右手而收到雇主所賠付的5萬元錢），表明雇主應當為事故負主要責任。而indemnity則偏 向于以下兩個含義：（1)是“代位賠償”，指接收的是來自他人而不是直接來自主要過錯人或責任人所支付的賠付[2] , ( 2 )是指主要責任人或過錯人“對代位賠償人的補償”，即非責任人或非主要責任人在替他人承擔損失賠償之后，接受責任人或其他責任人所支付的補償。如在交通事故中，由車主保險商而非責任事故的駕駛員向受害人進行賠付，可稱為“代位賠償”。而在汽車保險中，汽車被盜，保險商向投保人或受益人先行賠付，也稱為“代位賠償”，保險商由此可取得“代位追索權”，即取得在竊賊被擒獲之后，向竊賊追索補償的權利，而竊賊必須向 “作為代位賠償人的保險商補償其先行支付的保險賠償金”，這種情況既為indemnity的第二種含義。又如因雇貨的侵權行為而導致對他人的傷害的情況，此時，作為非主要責任人但負連帶責任人的雇主可先行向受害人作“代位賠償”。然后，雇主可以向作為直接責任人的雇員要求“對代位賠償人的補償”。因而, 當人們看到使用indemnity的時候，應當意識到其中具有“代位賠償”關系的存在。indemnity所指的這兩種賠償或補償權利一般由合同約定或適用法律而產生[3]，經常用于保險、海上救助、第三人之訴等場合。
至于compensate和indemnify，這兩個動詞的使用以及它們相互之間的區(qū)別與它們各自相對應的名詞相似。
[1] "Payment for injury or loss sustained," Cf. James E. Clapp, Random House Webster's Dictionary of the Law, at p. 93, Random House Reference & information Publishing(2000).
[2] "A right to receive compensation for a loss from someone other than a wrongdoer who caused the loss, or to receive reimbursement for a payment that one has to make to someone else to compensate other person for a loss." Id. at p. 233.
[3] "A right of indemnity can arise in two ways： (a) by contract. An insurance policy is a contract by which the insurance company agrees, for consideration in the form of payment of premiums, to indemnify the insured against losses or liabilities specified in the policy, (b) by operation of law. In certain situations a person held liable for a tort is entitled to indemnity from another tortfeasor regarded as more directly at fault. For example, if the owner of a car is held liable under stale 】aw for injury caused by negligence of the driver, or an employer is held liable for the tort of an employee under the doctrine of respondeat superior, the owner or employer is entitled to reimbursement from the driver or employee whose tortuous conduct actually caused the injury. " Cf. James E. Ciapp ： Random House Webster's Dictionary of the Law, at p. 233, Random House Reference & Information Publishing (2000).