usurer

English

Etymology

Anglo-Norman, from Old French usurier, Latin ūsūra (“interest”).

Compare usurper and use

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjuːʒəɹə/, /ˈjuːzjəɹə/
• IPA^(key): /ˈjuːʒəɹəɹ/, /ˈjuːʒɹəɹ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

usurer (plural usurers)

1. A person who loans money to others and charges interest, particularly at an illegal, exorbitant, or unfair rate.
   • 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 4”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:

     Profitless usurer, why dost thou use
     So great a sum of sums, yet canst not live?

   • 1936, Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind, chapter XLIII

     "You can go to the Carpetbag usurers if you want money."

Synonyms

• banker, loan shark

Hyponyms

• saraf (early modern Middle East & India), shroff (early modern India & SE Asia)

Related terms

• usuress (rare)
• usurial
• usurious
• usury

Translations

one who loans money at exorbitant interest rates

• Azerbaijani: müamiləçi, sələmçi
• Bulgarian: лихвар (bg) f (lihvar)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 高利貸／高利贷 (zh) (gāolìdài), 高利贷 (zh) (gāolìdài)

• Czech: lichvář (cs) m
• Danish: ågerkarl c
• Dutch: woekeraar (nl) m, woekeraarster (nl) f
• Esperanto: (♂♀) uzuranto, (explicitly ♂) viruzuranto, (♀) uzurantino, (♂♀) uzuristo, (explicitly ♂) viruzuristo, (♀) uzuristino, (♂♀) uzurulo, (explicitly ♂) viruzurulo, (♀) uzurulino, (♂♀) procentegisto, (explicitly ♂) virprocentegisto, (♀) procentegistino, (♂♀) procentegulo, (explicitly ♂) virprocentegulo, (♀) procentegulino
• Finnish: koronkiskuri (fi)
• French: usurier (fr) m, usurière (fr) f
• Galician: usureiro m, usureira f
• Georgian: მევახშე (mevaxše)
• German: Wucherer (de) m, Wucherin (de) f, Kredithai (de) m, Zinswucherer m
• Greek: τοκογλύφος (el) m or f (tokoglýfos)
• Hungarian: uzsorás (hu)
• Indonesian: rentenir (id)
• Italian: usuraio (it) m, usuraia f, strozzino (it) m, strozzina (it) f
• Japanese: 高利貸し (ja) (こうりがし, kōrigashi)
• Latin: toculiō m, danista m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Macedonian: лихвар m (lihvar)
• Maori: kaiwhakatuputupu moni
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ågerkar (no) m, ågerkarl m

  Nynorsk: ågerkar m

• Polish: lichwiarz (pl) m
• Portuguese: usurário (pt) m, usureiro m, agiota (pt) m or f
• Romanian: cămătar (ro) m, cămătăreasă (ro) f, uzurar (ro) m (dated)
• Russian: ростовщи́к (ru) m (rostovščík), ростовщи́ца (ru) f (rostovščíca), (dated) проце́нтщик (ru) m (procéntščik), проце́нтщица (ru) f (procéntščica)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: лихвар m

  Roman: lihvar (sh) m

• Slovak: úžerník m
• Spanish: usurero (es) m, usurera (es) f
• Swedish: ockrare (sv) c
• Tagalog: buwayang-lubog, buwaya sa katihan
• Turkish: tefeci (tr), (obsolete) murabahacı (tr)
• Ukrainian: лихва́р m (lyxvár), лихва́рка f (lyxvárka)
• Volapük: (♂♀) vukan (vo), (♂) hivukan, (♀) jivukan

Anagrams

• rusure

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Middle English

Noun

usurer

1. Alternative form of usurere

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Swedish

Noun

usurer

1. (deprecated template usage) indefinite plural of usur