debt
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
From Old French dete (French: dette) < Mediaeval Latin debita < Latin debitum (“‘what is owed, a debt, a duty’”), neut. pp. of debere (“‘to owe’”), contr. of *dehibere (“‘literally to have from’”) < de- (“‘from’”) + habere.
The unpronounced "b" in the modern English spelling, is a Latinisation from the Latin etmyon debitum.
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Noun
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Singular |
Plural |
debt (plural debts)
- 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.
- 1589, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part I, act 1, sc. 3,
- The state or condition of owing something to another.
- I am in your debt.
- 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.
- 1919, Upton Sinclair, Jimmie Higgins, ch. 15,
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Related terms
[edit] Translations
action, state of mind, or object one has an obligation to perform for another, adopt toward another, or give to another
state or condition of owing something to another
money that one person or entity owes or is required to pay to another
- 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
[edit] External links
- debt in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- debt in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

