down payment

See also: downpayment

English

Noun

down payment (plural down payments)

1. (law, finance) A payment representing a fraction of the price of something being purchased, made to secure the right to continue making payments towards that purchase.
2. (by extension) Any initial commitment signifying an intention to carry out a larger future commitment, even though no legal rights or obligations are secured.
   • 2009 February 5, Barack Obama, My Door is Always Open:

     After decades of empty rhetoric, that's the down payment that we need on energy independence.

   • 2009 April 4, Barack Obama, NATO summit

     These commitments of troops, trainers, and civilians represent a strong down payment on the future of our mission in Afghanistan and on the future of NATO.

   • 2022 March 9, Ben Jones, “RAIL Supplement: Return Ticket”, in RAIL, number 952, page 26 (supplement):

     After all, when you buy a car, you're making a large down payment on future journeys - buying an annual rail pass or railcard should be no different.

Synonyms

• (finance): deposit

Translations

payment representing a fraction of the price

• Arabic:

  Egyptian Arabic: عربون m (ʕarbūn)

  Tunisian Arabic: عربون

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Azerbaijani: beh
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 首付 (zh) (shǒufù), 首付款 (zh) (shǒufùkuǎn), 頭期款／头期款 (tóuqīkuǎn), 預付定金／预付定金 (yùfù dìngjīn)

• Danish: udbetaling c
• Dutch: aanbetaling (nl)
• Finnish: ennakkomaksu (fi), käsiraha (fi)
• French: premier acompte m, versement initial m, acompte (fr) m
• German: Anzahlung (de) f
• Greek: προκαταβολή (el) f (prokatavolí)
• Icelandic: útborgun f
• Indonesian: uang muka (id), panjar (id), persekot (id)
• Ingrian: käsiraha
• Italian: acconto (it) m
• Japanese: 頭金 (ja) (atamakin)
• Korean: 계약금 (gyeyakgeum), 착수금 (ko) (chaksugeum)
• Latin: arrabō m
• Maori: moni tāpui
• Polish: przedpłata f
• Portuguese: entrada (pt) f, sinal (pt) m, arras penitenciais f pl
• Russian: пе́рвый взнос m (pérvyj vznos), первонача́льный платёж m (pervonačálʹnyj platjóž), ава́нс (ru) m (aváns)
• Spanish: adelanto (es) m, (Spain) entrada (es) f, (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru) cuota inicial f, (Chile) pie (es) m, (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua) prima (es) f, (Guatemala, Mexico) enganche (es) m, (Argentina) boleto (es) m, (Panama) abono inicial m, (Puerto Rico) pronto pago m, (Venezuela) inicial (es) f
• Swedish: handpenning (sv) c, avbetalning (sv) c
• Tagalog: pauna, paunang bayad
• Turkish: depozit (tr), depozito (tr), pey (tr)
• Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
• Yiddish: אַדרויף m (adroyf)

any initial commitment

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 最初承諾／最初承诺 (zuìchū chéngnuò)

• Finnish: ennakkosuoritus
• French: acompte (fr) m, arrhes (fr) f pl
• Italian: please add this translation if you can
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Portuguese: please add this translation if you can
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can