WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Set"-off`
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [Set + off.]
Definition : 1. That which is set off against another thing; an offset. I do not contemplate such a heroine as a set-off to the many sins imputed to me as committed against woman. D. Jerrold.

2. That which is used to improve the appearance of anything; a decoration; an ornament.

3. (Law)

Defn: A counterclaim; a cross debt or demand; a distinct claim filed or set up by the defendant against the plaintiff's demand.

Note: Set-off differs from recoupment, as the latter generally grows out of the same matter or contract with the plaintiff's claim, while the former grows out of distinct matter, and does not of itself deny the justice of the plaintiff's demand. Offset is sometimes improperly used for the legal term set-off. See Recoupment.

4. (Arch.)

Defn: Same as Offset, n., 4.

5. (Print.)

Defn: See Offset, 7.

Syn. -- Set-off, Offset. -- Offset originally denoted that which branches off or projects, as a shoot from a tree, but the term has long been used in America in the sense of set-off. This use is beginning to obtain in England; though Macaulay uses set-off, and so, perhaps, do a majority of English writers.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913