\Pre"mi*um\, n.; pl. {Premiums}. [L. praemium,
originally, what one has got before or better than others;
prae before + emere to take, buy. See {Redeem}.]
1. A reward or recompense; a prize to be won by being before
   another, or others, in a competition; reward or prize to
   be adjudged; a bounty; as, a premium for good behavior or
   scholarship, for discoveries, etc.
         To think it not the necessity, but the premium and
         privilege of life, to eat and sleep without any
         regard to glory.                      --Burke.
         The law that obliges parishes to support the poor
         offers a premium for the encouragement of idleness.
                                               --Franklin.
2. Something offered or given for the loan of money; bonus;
   -- sometimes synonymous with interest, but generally
   signifying a sum in addition to the capital.
         People were tempted to lend, by great premiums and
         large interest.                       --Swift.
3. A sum of money paid to underwriters for insurance, or for
   undertaking to indemnify for losses of any kind.
4. A sum in advance of, or in addition to, the nominal or par
   value of anything; as, gold was at a premium; he sold his
   stock at a premium.