Link Centre Dictionary

lend

US/ˈlɛnd/ common uk

verb

1.

bestow a quality on

  • “Her presence lends a certain cachet to the company”
  • “The music added a lot to the play”
  • “She brings a special atmosphere to our meetings”
  • “This adds a light note to the program”
Synonyms
2.

give temporarily; let have for a limited time

  • “I will lend you my car”
  • “loan me some money”
Synonyms
Antonyms
3.

have certain characteristics of qualities for something; be open or vulnerable to

  • “This story would lend itself well to serialization on television”
  • “The current system lends itself to great abuse”

Origin

From earlier len (with excrescent -d, as in sound), from Middle English lenen, lænen, from Old English lǣnan (“to lend; give, grant, lease”), from Proto-West Germanic *laihnijan, from Proto-Germanic *laihnijaną (“to loan”), from Proto-Germanic *laihną (“loan”), from Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- (“to leave, leave over”). Cognate with Scots len, lend (“to lend”), West Frisian liene (“to lend, borrow, loan”), Dutch lenen (“to lend, borrow, loan”), Danish låne (“to lend, loan”), Swedish låna (“to lend, loan”), Icelandic lána (“to lend, loan”), Icelandic léna (“to grant”), Latin linquō (“quit, leave, forlet”), Ancient Greek λείπω (leípō, “leave, release”). See also loan.

Phrases

  • give back
  • have a lend of someone
  • lend a hand
  • lend an ear
  • lend itself to
  • lend to believe
  • pay back

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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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.