debt

Definition

An action, state of mind, or object one has an obligation to perform for another, adopt toward another, or give to another.

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 (“I owe”), contraction of *dehibeō (“I have from”), from de (“from”) + habeō (“I have”). Doublet of debit. The unpronounced "b" in the modern English spelling is a Latinisation from the Latin etymon dēbitum.

Example Sentences

• "Revenge the jeering and disdain'd contempt / Of this proud king, who studies day and night / To answer all the debt he owes to you / Even with the bloody payment of your deaths."
• "This long debt of confidence, due from me to him, whose bane and ruin I have been, shall at length be paid."
• "I am in your debt."

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