Sĕt'-ŏff, n.

n. [From set and off.]

1. That which is set off against another thing; an offset.
2. That which is used to improve the appearance of any thing; a decoration; an ornament.
3. (Law.) A counter-claim; a cross-debt, or demand; a distinct claim filed or set up by the defendant against the plaintiff's demand.

Set-off differs from reduction and recoupment, as the latter generally grow 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.) The part of a wall, &c., which is exposed horizontally when the portion above it is reduced in thickness; — called also offset. Syn. — SET-OFF, OFFSET. Offset originally denoted that which branches off or projects, as a shoot from a tree, but has long been used in America in the sense of set-off, or equivalent. This use is beginning to obtain in England, though Macaulay uses set-off; and so, perhaps, do a majority of English writers.