debt

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle English dett, from Old French dete (French: dette), from Medieval Latin dēbita, from Latin dēbitum (“what is owed, a debt, a duty”), neuter of dēbitus, perfect passive participle of dēbeō (“I owe”), contraction of *dehibeō (“literally I have from”), from de (“from”) + habeō (“I have”).

The unpronounced "b" in the modern English spelling, is a Latinisation from the Latin etymon dēbitum.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dɛt/, SAMPA: /dEt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛt

Noun

debt (plural debts)

1. An action, state of mind, or object one has an obligation to perform for another, adopt toward another, or give to another.
   • 1589, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part I, act 1, sc. 3,

     Revenge the jeering and disdain'd contempt

     Of this proud king, who studies day and night

     To answer all the debt he owes to you

     Even with the bloody payment of your deaths.

   • 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, ch. 14,

     This long debt of confidence, due from me to him, whose bane and ruin I have been, shall at length be paid.

2. The state or condition of owing something to another.

   I am in your debt.

3. Money that one person or entity owes or is required to pay to another, generally as a result of a loan or other financial transaction.
   • 1919, Upton Sinclair, Jimmie Higgins, ch. 15,

     Bolsheviki had repudiated the four-billion-dollar debt which the government of the Tsar had contracted with the bankers.

Derived terms

bad debt debt-equity ratio debt-laden domestic debt

external debt foreign debt in debt national debt

Related terms

• debit
• debitor
• debtor
• indebted

Translations

action, state of mind, or object one has an obligation to perform for another

Armenian: պարտք (hy) (partk') Bulgarian: задължение (bg) n. Chinese: Mandarin: (of gratitude) 人情債 (zh), 人情债 (zh) (rénqíngzhài) Danish: gæld (da) c., skyldighed (da) c. Dutch: verplichting (nl) Finnish: velvoite (fi) French: dette (fr) f. German: Schuld (de) f., Verbindlichkeit (de) f., Verpflichtung (de) f. Greek: χρέος (el) (khréos) n. Hungarian: tartozás (hu), kötelezettség (hu) Italian: debito (it) m.

Kurdish: deyn (ku) m., qer (ku) m., قه‌رز (ku) Luxembourgish: Schold (lb) f. Mapudungun: defe Polish: zobowiązanie n., wdzięczność f., dług m. Portuguese: dívida (pt) f. Romanian: datorie (ro) Russian: долг (ru) (dolg) m., обязанность (ru) (ob'ázannost') f. Scottish Gaelic: fiach (gd) m., comain (gd) f. Slovene: dolg (sl) m. Spanish: deuda (es) f. Swedish: skuld (sv) c. West Frisian: skuld (fy) c.

state or condition of owing something to another

Armenian: պարտք (hy) (partk') Bulgarian: дълг (bg) m. Chinese: Mandarin: (of gratitude) 人情債 (zh), 人情债 (zh) (rénqíngzhài) Czech: dluh (cs) m. Danish: gæld (da) c. Dutch: schulden (nl) pl. Esperanto: ŝuldo (eo) Finnish: velka (fi) German: Schulden (de) f., Verbindlichkeit (de) f. Greek: χρέος (el) (khréos) n.

Hungarian: adósság (hu), tartozás (hu) Italian: debito (it) m. Kurdish: قه‌رزار Lithuanian: skola (lt) f., įsiskolinimas (lt) m. Polish: zadłużenie n. Portuguese: dívida (pt) f. Russian: долг (ru) (dolg) m. Scottish Gaelic: fiach (gd) m., comain (gd) f. Spanish: deuda (es) f. Swedish: skuld (sv) c. (be in debt: stå i skuld) West Frisian: skuld (fy) c.

money that one person or entity owes or is required to pay to another

Armenian: պարտք (hy) (partk') Bulgarian: дълг (bg) m. Chinese: Mandarin: 借款 (zh) (jièkuǎn), 欠款 (zh) (qiànkuǎn), 債務 (zh), 债务 (zh) (zhàiwù) Danish: gæld (da) c. Dutch: schulden (nl) pl. Estonian: võlg (et) Finnish: velka (fi) French: dette (fr) f. German: Schulden (de) f., Verbindlichkeit (de) f. Greek: χρέος (el) (khréos) n. Hebrew: חוב (khov) m. Hindi: क़र्ज़ (hi) (qarz) m., ऋण (hi) (ŕṇ) m. Hungarian: adósság (hu), tartozás (hu)

Italian: debito (it) m. Japanese: 負債 (ja) (ふさい, fusai), 借金 (ja) (しゃっきん, shakkin) Kurdish: qer m., قه‌رز Latvian: parāds (lv) Lithuanian: skola (lt) f. Malay: hutang (ms) Polish: dług m. Portuguese: dívida (pt) f. Romanian: datorie (ro) f. Russian: долг (ru) (dolg) m., задолженность (ru) (zadólžennost') f. Scottish Gaelic: fiach (gd) m. Slovene: dolg (sl) m. Spanish: deuda (es) f. Swedish: skuld (sv) c. West Frisian: skuld (fy) c.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Afrikaans: skuld Serbo-Croatian: dug m. Serbo-Croatian: dug m. French: dette Ido: debajo Indonesian: hutang, debet, debit, pijaman Interlingua: debita, debito

Latin: debitum n. Korean: 빚 (bit) Norwegian: gjeld Portuguese: dívida f., débito m. Romanian: datorie f. Serbian: Cyrillic: дуг m. Roman: dug m. Telugu: అప్పు (appu) Ukrainian: борг (borh) m.

External links

• debt in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• debt in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911