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debt

Pronunciation: /ˈdɛt/

The English word “debt” has 4 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. An action, state of mind, or object one has an obligation to perform for another, adopt toward another, or give to another.
  2. The state or condition of owing something to another.
  3. Money that one person or entity owes or is required to pay to another, generally as a result of a loan or other financial transaction.
  4. An action at law to recover a certain specified sum of money alleged to be due

Etymology

From Middle English dette, dett, borrowed from Old French dete (French dette), from Medieval Latin dēbita, from Latin dēbitum (“what is owed, a debt, a duty”), neuter of dēbitus, perfect passive participle of dēbeō (“to owe”), contraction of *dehibeō (“I have from”), from de (“from”) + habeō (“to have”). Doublet of debit. Displaced native Old English eofot. The unpronounced "b" in the modern…

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