owe

See also: Owe and ọwẹ

English

Etymology

From Middle English owen, from Old English āgan, from Proto-West Germanic *aigan (“to own”), from Proto-Germanic *aiganą, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eh₂óyḱe (“to possess, own”), reduplicated stative of *h₂eyḱ- (“to own”). See also own, ought.

Cognate with Sanskrit ईष्टे (īṣṭe, “to own, possess”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əʊ/
• (US) enPR: ō, IPA^(key): /oʊ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Homophones: o, O, oh
• Rhymes: -əʊ

Verb

owe (third-person singular simple present owes, present participle owing, simple past owed or (archaic) ought, past participle owed or (archaic) ought or (archaic) own)

1. (ditransitive) To be under an obligation to give something back to someone or to perform some action for someone.

   We owe it to our children to make our nation a better place to live in the future.

   I owe Kevin five bucks which he lent to me last week.

   This time I'll cover for you, but now you owe me a favour.

   • 1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], Act I:

     VVe owe God a death, and we can but die:

   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

     […] To you, Antonio,
     I owe the most, in money and in love;
     And from your love I have a warranty
     To unburden all my plots and purposes
     How to get clear of all the debts I owe.

   • 1854, Charles Dickens, chapter 7, in Hard Times. For These Times, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], →OCLC:

     He inherited a fair fortune from his uncle, but owed it all before he came into it, and spent it twice over immediately afterwards.

2. (intransitive) To have debt; to be in debt.
3. (transitive) To have as a cause; used with to.

   The record owes its success to the outstanding guitar solos.

Usage notes

• The original past tense form was ought, which during Middle English began to be used with indefinite signification and has become a distinct verb. The original past participle survives in the adjective own.

Derived terms

• how much do I owe you
• owe it to oneself
• owe out
• ower
• owe someone one
• the world owes one a living
• to what do I owe the pleasure

Translations

to be under an obligation

• Belarusian: быць у абавя́зку impf (bycʹ u abavjázku), му́сіць impf (músicʹ), быць паві́нен impf (bycʹ pavínjen)
• Bulgarian: задължен съм (zadǎlžen sǎm)
• Catalan: deure (ca)
• Dutch: schuldig zijn
• Esperanto: ŝuldi
• Finnish: olla velkaa
• French: devoir (fr)
• Galician: deber (gl)
• German: schulden (de), schuldig sein
• Gothic: 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌰𐌽 (skulan)
• Greek: χρωστάω (el) (chrostáo), χρωστώ (el) (chrostó)
• Hebrew: חב (he) (khav), היה חייב (hayá khayáv)
• Ido: debar (io)
• Irish: bí ar (with subject and object reversed)
• Italian: dovere (it)
• Latin: dēbeō (la)
• Occitan: dever (oc)
• Old English: sċulan
• Persian: مدیون بودن (fa) (madyun budan), بدهکار بودن (bedehkâr budan)
• Polish: być zobowiązany impf, zawdzięczać (pl) impf
• Portuguese: dever (pt)
• Romanian: datora (ro)
• Russian: быть до́лжным impf (bytʹ dólžnym), быть обя́занным impf (bytʹ objázannym), быть в долгу́ impf (bytʹ v dolgú)
• Slovene: dolgovati
• Spanish: deber (es), adeudar (es)
• Swedish: vara skyldig
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} Borçluluk, ^{(please verify)} müzayaka (tr)
• Ukrainian: ви́нен m (výnen), ви́нна f (výnna), ви́нні m pl or f pl (výnni), бу́ти ви́нним impf (búty výnnym), му́сити (uk) impf (músyty), пови́нний (povýnnyj) (predicative)
• Zazaki: deyndarey f
• Zyphe: bah

to be in debt

• Belarusian: завінава́ціцца pf (zavinavácicca), запазы́чыцца pf (zapazýčycca), быць ў даўгу́ impf (bycʹ w dawhú)
• Bulgarian: дължа (bg) (dǎlža)
• Catalan: deure (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 欠 (him³)

  Mandarin: 欠 (zh) (qiàn), 欠債 / 欠债 (zh) (qiànzhài)

• Czech: dlužit (cs)
• Danish: skylde (da)
• Dutch: schuldig zijn
• Finnish: olla velkaa, olla veloissa
• French: devoir (fr)
• Galician: deber (gl)
• German: schulden (de), schuldig sein
• Gothic: 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌰𐌽 (skulan)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ὀφείλω (opheílō)

• Haitian Creole: dwe
• Hebrew: היה חייב (hayá khayáv)
• Hungarian: tartozik (hu)
• Irish: bí ar (with subject and object reversed)
• Italian: dovere (it), essere in debito
• Japanese: 借りがある (かりがある, kari ga aru), 負う (ja) (おう, ou)
• Korean: 빚지고 있다 (bitjigo itda)
• Latin: dēbeō (la)
• Malay: berhutang
• Norwegian: skylde
• Occitan: dever (oc)
• Persian: بدهکار بودن (bedehkâr budan)
• Polish: mieć dług, być winnym, winić (pl)
• Portuguese: dever (pt)
• Romanian: datora (ro)
• Russian: (predicative) до́лжен (ru) m (dólžen), должна́ (ru) f (dolžná), должны́ (ru) pl (dolžný), быть до́лжным impf (bytʹ dólžnym), быть в долгу́ impf (bytʹ v dolgú), задолжа́ть (ru) pf (zadolžátʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: дуго̀вати

  Roman: dugòvati (sh)

• Slovene: dolgovati
• Spanish: estar en deuda, deber (es), adeudar (es)
• Swedish: vara skyldig
• Turkish: borçlu olmak

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Arabic: ^{(please verify)} يَكُون مَدِينًا لَهُ (yakūn madīnan lahu)
• Czech: ^{(please verify)} dlužit (cs)
• Hungarian: ^{(please verify)} tartozik (hu)
• Ido: ^{(please verify)} debar (io)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} dovere (it), ^{(please verify)} essere debitore di
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 빚지다 (bitjida)
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} dēbeō
• Macedonian: ^{(please verify)} до́лжи (dólži)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: ^{(please verify)} dugòvati (sh)

• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} vara skyldig

Anagrams

• woe

Avava

Noun

owe

1. water

Further reading

• Terry Crowley et al, The Avava Language of Central Malakula (Vanuatu) (2006)

Bavarian

Alternative forms

• owi, noi

Etymology

From Middle High German abhin, abehin, equivalent to å + hi. Compare archaic German abhin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɔːβɛ/

Adverb

owe

1. (East Central Bavarian) down, downwards (direction away from the speaker)

   Antonym: auffe

Usage notes

Bavarian adverbs of direction come in pairs: endings in -i or -e denote direction away from the speaker (akin to hi), and endings in -a denote direction towards the speaker (akin to her).

Related terms

• owa

Middle English

Pronoun

owe

1. alternative form of yow

Old French

Noun

owe

1. alternative form of hoe (“hoe”)

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɔ.vɛ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔvɛ
• Syllabification: o‧we

Pronoun

owe

1. nonvirile nominative/accusative/vocative plural of ów

Yoruba

Alternative forms

• òghe
• òe (Ekiti)

Etymology 1

Folk etymology explains that it comes from ò- (“nominalizing prefix”) +‎ wé (“to wrap, to twist”), literally “That which wraps something around something else (another meaning)”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ò.wē/

Noun

òwe

1. proverb, adage, saying

Etymology 2

Òwè tó ń jókòó lé àpáta

Compare with Igala ògè

Alternative forms

• òghè (Ondo)
• òè (Ekiti)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ò.wè/

Noun

òwè

1. a species of black monkey; (in particular) Collared mangabey

Derived terms

proverbs

• bí alákẹdun rọ̀, tó fọwọ́ ṣẹ́; agbọ̀n la ó fi kó ọmọ òwè níbẹ̀ (“If the colobus monkey breaks its arm while suspended from a tree, Collard mangabeys will be scooped off the place by the basketful”)
• ikú tó pa òwè ń pòwe fún ẹdun (“the death that killed the Collared mangabey sends a proverbial message to the colobus monkey”)