bankrupt
English
Etymology
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] 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. (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈbæŋ.kɹəpt/, /ˈbæŋ.kɹʌpt/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈbæŋk.ɹəpt/, /ˈbæŋk.ɹʌpt/
Adjective
bankrupt (comparative more bankrupt, superlative most bankrupt)
- In a condition of bankruptcy; unable to pay one's debts.
- a bankrupt merchant
- Having been legally declared insolvent.
- Destitute of, or wholly lacking (something once possessed, or something one should possess).
- a morally bankrupt politician
- (Can we date this quote by Sheridan and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- bankrupt in gratitude
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “bankrupt”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:impoverished
Derived terms
Translations
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See also
Verb
bankrupt (third-person singular simple present bankrupts, present participle bankrupting, simple past and past participle bankrupted)
- (transitive) To force into bankruptcy.
Translations
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Noun
bankrupt (plural bankrupts)
- One who becomes unable to pay his or her debts; an insolvent person.
- (UK, law, obsolete) A trader who secretes himself, or does certain other acts tending to defraud his creditors.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Blackstone to this entry?)
Translations
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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.
- English terms derived from Italian
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with usage examples
- Requests for date/Sheridan
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- British English
- en:Law
- English terms with obsolete senses
- Requests for quotations/Blackstone