Link Centre Dictionary

debt

UK/ˈdɛt/ US/ˈdɛt/ common

noun

1.

the state of owing something (especially money)

  • “he is badly in debt”
2.

money or goods or services owed by one person to another

3.

an obligation to pay or do something

Origin

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 English spelling is a Latinisation from the Latin etymon dēbitum.

Phrases

  • acquisition debt
  • bad debt
  • bonded debt
  • book debt
  • carbon debt
  • collateralized debt obligation
  • debt bondage
  • debt burden

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.