bankrupt

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Partial calque of Italian banca rotta, which refers to an out-of-business bank, having its bench physically broken. When a moneylender in Northern Italy became insolvent, they would break the bench they worked from to signify that they were no longer in business. (Vocabolario Etimologico della Lingua Italiano 1907)

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈbæŋ.kɹəpt/, /ˈbæŋ.kɹʌpt/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈbæŋk.ɹəpt/, /ˈbæŋk.ɹʌpt/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -æŋkɹəpt, -æŋkɹʌpt

Adjective[edit]

bankrupt (comparative more bankrupt, superlative most bankrupt)

  1. (finance) In a condition of bankruptcy; unable to pay one's debts.
    a bankrupt merchant
  2. Having been legally declared insolvent.
  3. Destitute of, or wholly lacking (something once possessed, or something one should possess).
    a morally bankrupt politician

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Verb[edit]

bankrupt (third-person singular simple present bankrupts, present participle bankrupting, simple past and past participle bankrupted)

  1. (transitive) To force into bankruptcy.

Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

bankrupt (plural bankrupts)

  1. One who becomes unable to pay his or her debts; an insolvent person.
  2. (UK, law, obsolete) A trader who secretes himself, or does certain other acts tending to defraud his creditors.

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