bankrupt

English

Etymology

Partial calque of Italian bancarotta (literally “a broken bench”), from banca (“bank”, literally “bench”) + rotta (“broken, rupted”), which refers to an out-of-business bank, having its bench physically broken, signifying that the working moneylender was insolvent.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbæŋ.kɹəpt/, /ˈbæŋ.kɹʌpt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈbæŋk.ɹəpt/, /ˈbæŋk.ɹʌpt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æŋkɹəpt, -æŋkɹʌpt
• Hyphenation: bank‧rupt

Adjective

bankrupt (comparative more bankrupt, superlative most bankrupt)

1. (finance, of a person, company, etc.) In a condition of bankruptcy; unable to pay outstanding debts or meet financial obligations; specifically, having been legally declared insolvent. [from 1565]

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:impoverished

   a bankrupt merchant

   • 1926, Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises, page 141:

     "How did you go bankrupt?" Bill asked. "Two ways," Mike said. "Gradually and then suddenly."

2. (figurative) Destitute of, or wholly lacking a good quality, value, etc. one should possess or once possessed. [from 1567]

   a morally bankrupt politician

   • 1775 January 17 (first performance), [Richard Brinsley Sheridan], The Rivals, a Comedy. […], London: […] John Wilkie, […], published 1775, →OCLC, Act V, scene i, page 80:

     O Julia! I am bankrupt in gratitude! but the time is ſo preſſing, it calls on you for ſo haſty a reſolution.

Translations

having been legally declared insolvent

• Albanian: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: مُفْلِس (ar) (muflis)
• Armenian: սնանկ (hy) (snank)
• Basque: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: банкрут (bg) (bankrut)
• Catalan: arruïnat (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 破產著 / 破产着 (pòchǎnzhe)

• Czech: please add this translation if you can
• Danish: bankerot, fallit, konkurs
• Dutch: bankroet (nl), in faling, failliet (nl)
• Esperanto: bankrota
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: vararikossa, vararikkoinen, konkurssissa
• French: en faillite (fr), failli (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: bankrott (de)
• Greek: χρεωκοπημένος (el) (chreokopiménos)
• Hebrew: פּוֹשֵׁט רֶגֶל (he) (poshét régel)
• Hindi: दिवालिया (hi) m (divāliyā), दिवलीया m (divlīyā)
• Hungarian: tönkrement (hu) sg, csődbe jutott
• Icelandic: gjaldþrota
• Indonesian: bangkrut (id), pailit (id)
• Italian: fallito (it)
• Japanese: 破産した (ja) (はさんした, hasan-shita), 倒産した (ja) (とうさんした, tōsan-shita), 破綻した (ja) (はたんした, hatan-shita)
• Khmer: ក្ស័យធន (ksâythôn), ធនក្ស័យ (thĕəʼnĕəkksay)
• Korean: 파산 (ko) (pasan)
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Malay: bangkrap, muflis (ms)
• Maori: pēkerapu, mone
• Mongolian: дампуу (mn) (dampuu)
• Nepali: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: konkurs

  Nynorsk: konkurs

• Persian: ورشکسته (fa) (varšekaste), ^{(please verify)} مفلس (fa) (mofles)
• Plautdietsch: bankrott
• Polish: zbankrutowany m
• Portuguese: bancarrota (pt) f, falido (pt)
• Punjabi: ਦਿਵਾਲ਼ੀਆ (divāḷīā)
• Romanian: falimentar (ro), falit (ro) (colloquial), mofluz (ro) (archaic)
• Russian: обанкро́тившийся (ru) (obankrótivšijsja)
• Spanish: quebrado (es), arruinado (es)
• Swedish: bankrutt (sv)
• Tagalog: pagkalugi, bangkarote
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: müflis (tr)
• Ukrainian: банкру́т (uk) m (bankrút), банкро́т (uk) m (bankrót)
• Vietnamese: phá sản (vi)
• Welsh: methdalwr m (The noun is usually used.)

Verb

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

1. (transitive) To force into bankruptcy.
   • 1953 August, David R. Webb, “By Rail to Bournemouth”, in Railway Magazine, page 553:

     The cost of the Mendip line had, however, bankrupted the S.D.R. [Somerset & Dorset Railway], and it was leased to the two larger companies for 999 years in 1875, and named the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway.

Translations

force into bankruptcy

• Bulgarian: разорявам (bg) (razorjavam), причинявам фалит на (pričinjavam falit na)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 破產 / 破产 (zh) (pòchǎn)

• Esperanto: bankroti
• Finnish: pakottaa konkurssiin, saattaa konkurssiin
• German: in den Konkurs treiben (de)
• Ido: bankrotigar (io)
• Italian: fallire (it)
• Maori: pēkerapu, whakamone
• Norwegian: konkurs, bankerott, insolvent
• Romanian: falimenta
• Russian: обанкро́тить (ru) pf (obankrótitʹ); разоря́ть (ru) impf (razorjátʹ), разори́ть (ru) pf (razorítʹ)

Noun

bankrupt (plural bankrupts)

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

Translations

insolvent person

• Catalan: bancarroter m, bancarrotera f
• Finnish: vararikkoinen
• Italian: bancarotta (it)
• Macedonian: банкрот m (bankrot), банкроте́р m (bankrotér)
• Maori: pēkerapu
• Polish: bankrut (pl) m, bankrutka (pl) f
• Russian: банкро́т (ru) m (bankrót)
• Welsh: methdalwr m

Derived terms

• bankrupt cart
• bankruptcy
• bankruptee
• bankrupter
• bankruptism
• bankruptlike
• bankruptly
• bankruptness
• bankruptship
• bankrupt worm
• go bankrupt
• morally bankrupt
• nonbankrupt
• rebankrupt
• unbankrupt
• unbankrupted
• wankrupt

See also

• defunct
• illiquid
• insolvent

References

• Michael Quinion (2004) “Bankrupt”, in Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, →ISBN.
• “bankrupt”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “bankrupt, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.