usura

See also: ușura

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₃eyt-der.?

Proto-Italic *oitōr

Latin ūtor

Proto-Indo-European *-tew-?

Proto-Indo-European *-r-eh₂?

Latin -tūra

Latin ūsūrabor.

English usura

Borrowed from Latin ūsūra.

Noun

usura (uncountable)

1. (rare, archaic or poetic) Usury.
   • 1577, William Harrison, chapter 9, in Holinshed's Chronicles:

     In time past it was sors pro sorte – that is, the principal only for the principal; but now, beside that which is above the principal properly called Usura, we challenge Foenus – that is, commodity of soil and fruits of the earth, if not the ground itself.

   • 1905, Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism‎^[1]:

     Quite considerable sums, as the sources show, went at the death of rich people to religious institutions as conscience money, at times even back to former debtors as usura which had been unjustly taken from them.

   • 1937, Ezra Pound, The Cantos‎^[2]:

     With usura hath no man a house of good stone
     each block cut smooth and well fitting
     that design might cover their face,
     with usura
     hath no man a painted paradise on his church wall
     harpes et luz
     or where virgin receiveth message
     and halo projects from incision, […]

Galician

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /uˈsuɾa/ [uˈs̺u.ɾɐ]
• Rhymes: -uɾa
• Hyphenation: u‧su‧ra

Noun

usura f (plural usuras)

1. usury

Further reading

• “usura”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /uˈzu.ra/
• Rhymes: -ura
• Hyphenation: u‧sù‧ra

Etymology 1

From Latin ūsūra (“use; enjoyment”), derived from ūsus, perfect passive participle of ūtor (“to use; to enjoy”).

Noun

usura f (plural usure)

1. (obsolete, finance) interest (price of credit)

   Synonym: interesse

2. (obsolete, finance) usury (practice of lending money at interest)
3. usury (exorbitant rate of interest in excess of any legal rates)

Derived terms

• usuraio
• usureggiare

Related terms

• usare
• uso
• usurario
• usuriere

Further reading

• usura¹ in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French usure, derived from user (“to use”).

Noun

usura f (plural usure)

1. wear (damage caused by use over time)
2. (figurative) deterioration

Derived terms

• usurare

Related terms

• usurante
• usurato

Further reading

• usura² in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

usura

1. inflection of usurare:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₃eyt-der.?

Proto-Italic *oitōr

Latin ūtor

Proto-Indo-European *-tew-?

Proto-Indo-European *-r-eh₂?

Latin -tūra

Latin ūsūra

From ūtor + -tūra.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [uːˈsuː.ra]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [uˈs̬uː.ra]

Noun

ūsūra f (genitive ūsūrae); first declension

1. use, enjoyment
2. interest (on a loan)

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	ūsūra	ūsūrae
genitive	ūsūrae	ūsūrārum
dative	ūsūrae	ūsūrīs
accusative	ūsūram	ūsūrās
ablative	ūsūrā	ūsūrīs
vocative	ūsūra	ūsūrae

Descendants

• English: usury
• French: usure
• Italian: usura
• Portuguese: usura
• Spanish: usura
• Serbo-Croatian: ušur

References

• “usura”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “usura”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “usura”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[3], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to lend some one money (without interest): pecuniam alicui credere (sine fenore, usuris)
    
  • interest at 1 per cent per month, 12 per cent per annum: centesimae (sc. usurae) (Att. 5. 21. 11)
    
  • 6 per cent: usurae semissium (Colum.)
    
  • 6 per cent: usurae semisses (Jurists)
    
  • 3 per cent (a quarter of centesima): quadrantes usurae
    
  • 4 per cent: trientes or trientariae usurae (Att. 4. 15)
    
  • 5 per cent: quincunces usurae
    
  • monthly interest: usura menstrua
    
• “usura”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers

Piedmontese

Alternative forms

• üsüra

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /yˈzyra/

Noun

usura f (plural usure)

1. usury

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /uˈzu.ɾɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /uˈzu.ɾɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /uˈzu.ɾa/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /uˈzu.ɾɐ/

• Rhymes: -uɾɐ
• Hyphenation: u‧su‧ra

Etymology 1

From Latin usura. Cognate with English usury.

Noun

usura f (plural usuras)

1. usury (exorbitant rate of interest)
2. (uncountable) usury (practice of lending money at exorbitant rates)

   Synonym: agiotagem

3. any exploitative transaction

Etymology 2

Verb

usura

1. inflection of usurar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “usura”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “usura” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “usura”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin usura. Cognate with English usury.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /uˈsuɾa/ [uˈsu.ɾa]
• Rhymes: -uɾa
• Syllabification: u‧su‧ra

Noun

usura f (plural usuras)

1. usury

Related terms

• usurero

Further reading

• “usura”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025