premium // noun, adjective

■ noun [C]

INSURANCE PREMIUM, SHARE PREMIUM

1 (Insurance )

an amount of money that you pay once or regularly for insurance:

We pay a monthly premium of $20.

Health insurance premiums are rising rapidly.

2 (Commerce )

an extra payment added to the basic rate:

Customers are prepared to pay a premium for superior service.

A premium of 10% is paid out after 20 years.

The share offer represents a premium of 18% to yesterday's close.

3 (HR ) (also premium pay [U])

extra money that is added to employees' basic pay for particular reasons, for example if they work at weekends or away from home

IDIOMS

at a premium

1

if sth is at a premium, there is little of it available and it is difficult to get:

In big cities, parking is at a premium.

2 at a premium (to sth) (Finance )

at a higher than normal price:

Their shares trade at a premium to most of their rivals.

put/place/set a premium on sb/sth

to think that sb/sth is particularly important or valuable:

The company places a high premium on creativity.

■ adjective [only before noun]

1

very high and higher than usual:

They are able to charge premium prices for their products.

2

of high quality:

We are positioning the coffee as a premium product.

premium brands

• MBA
• MBE
• MBI
• MBO
• MBS
• MBTI™
• MBWA
• Mbyte
• McJob
• m-commerce
• MD
• meagre
• mean
• means
• means test
• means-tested
• measurable
• measure
• measurement
• mechanical
• mechanical engineering
• mechanism
• mechanize
• med.
• media