debt

English

Alternative forms

• dette (obsolete)

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛt
• Homophone: death (th-stopping)

Noun

debt (countable and uncountable, plural debts)

1. An action, state of mind, or object one has an obligation to perform for another, adopt toward another, or give to another.
   • 1589, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part I, act 1, scene 3:

     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.

   • 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter 14, in The Scarlet Letter:

     This long debt of confidence, due from me to him, whose bane and ruin I have been, shall at length be paid.

2. The state or condition of owing something to another.

   I am in your debt.

   • 1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto)‎^[1], London: […] Richard Field, for Iohn Harrison, […], →OCLC:

     The petty ſtreames that paie a dailie det / To their ſalt ſoveraigne with their freſh fals haſt, / Adde to his flowe, but alter not his taſt.

   • 1993, Kurt Cobain (lyrics and music), “Heart-Shaped Box”, in In Utero‎^[2], performed by Nirvana:

     Hey! Wait! I've got a new complaint / Forever in debt to your priceless advice

3. (finance) 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.
   • 1919, Upton Sinclair, chapter 15, in Jimmie Higgins:

     Bolsheviki had repudiated the four-billion-dollar debt which the government of the Tsar had contracted with the bankers.

   • 2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist‎^[3], volume 407, number 8841, page 70:

     Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster.

   • 2004, George Carlin, When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?‎^[4], New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 213:

     I don't own any stocks or bonds. All my money is tied up in debt.

4. (law) An action at law to recover a certain specified sum of money alleged to be due

Derived terms

• acquisition debt
• antidebt
• bad debt
• bonded debt
• book debt
• carbon debt
• collateralized debt obligation
• debt bondage
• debt burden
• debt ceiling
• debt collection
• debt collector
• debted
• debtee
• debt enforcement
• debt-equity ratio
• debt exchange
• debt-financed
• debt-for-nature
• debt-free
• debtholder
• debt instrument
• debt-laden
• debtless
• debtlike
• debt obligation
• debt of honor
• debt of honour
• debt of nature
• debt release
• debt relief
• debt-ridden
• debt slave
• debt slavery
• debt trap
• debt trap diplomacy
• dequity
• domestic debt
• European debt crisis
• external debt
• foreign debt
• government debt
• in debt
• in someone's debt
• karmic debt
• megadebt
• mezzanine debt
• national debt
• nondebt
• nonfinancial debt
• odious debt
• oxygen debt
• pay nature's debt
• pay one's debt to society
• pay the debt of nature
• phantom debt
• privileged debt
• public debt
• robo-debt
• secured debt
• sleep debt
• sovereign debt
• tech debt
• technical debt
• toxic debt
• unsecured debt
• zombie debt

 

Related terms

• debit
• debitor
• debtor
• indebted

Translations

action, state of mind, or object one has an obligation to perform for another

• Aklanon: utang
• Arabic: دَيْن (ar) (dayn)

  Egyptian Arabic: دين m (dēn)

• Armenian: պարտք (hy) (partkʻ)
• Aromanian: borgi f, hreu n
• Avar: борч (borč), къарз (qxʼarz)
• Azerbaijani: borc (az), qərz (archaic)
• Bashkir: бурыс (burıs), оҙаҡ (oźaq), үтеш (üteş), аласаҡ (alasaq)
• Belarusian: доўг m (doŭh)
• Bulgarian: задълже́ние (bg) n (zadǎlžénie)
• Catalan: deute (ca) m
• Chechen: декхар (deqar)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (of gratitude) 人情債／人情债 (rénqíngzhài)

• Chuvash: парӑм (parăm)
• Czech: dluh (cs) m
• Dalmatian: debeta f
• Danish: gæld (da) c, skyldighed c
• Dutch: verplichting (nl) f, schuld (nl) f
• Esperanto: ŝuldo
• Faroese: skuld f
• Finnish: velvoite (fi), velka (fi)
• French: dette (fr) f
• Galician: débeda (gl) f
• Georgian: ვალი (vali), მოვალეობა (movaleoba)
• German: Schuld (de) f, Verbindlichkeit (de) f, Verpflichtung (de) f
• Greek: χρέος (el) n (chréos)
• Higaonon: utang
• Hungarian: tartozás (hu), kötelezettség (hu)
• Indonesian: utang (id)
• Ingush: декхар (deqar)
• Italian: debito (it) m, obbligo (it) m, impegno (it) m
• Kazakh: борыш (boryş)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: قەرز (qerz)

  Northern Kurdish: deyn (ku) m, qer (ku) m

• Latin: dēbitum n
• Latvian: parāds m
• Lezgi: бурж (burž)
• Luxembourgish: Schold f
• Maltese: dejn m
• Mapudungun: defe
• Nauruan: idùra
• Norman: dette f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: gjeld m or f

• Occitan: deute (oc) m
• Old English: scyld f
• Persian: بِدِهی (fa) (bedehi)
• Polish: zobowiązanie (pl) n, wdzięczność (pl) f, dług (pl) m inan
• Portuguese: dívida (pt) f, débito (pt) m
• Romanian: datorie (ro) f
• Russian: долг (ru) m (dolg), обя́занность (ru) f (objázannostʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: fiach m, comain f
• Slovak: dlh m
• Slovene: dôlg (sl) m
• Southern Altai: алуча (aluča), ӧдӱш (ödüš) (+бер), алым (alïm)
• Spanish: deuda (es) f
• Swahili: deni (sw)
• Swedish: skuld (sv) c
• Tabasaran: бурж (burž)
• Tarifit: amerwas m
• Tausug: utang
• Ternate: hagi, nyagi
• Tocharian B: peri
• Turkish: borç (tr)
• Ukrainian: борг (uk) m (borh), зобов'я́зання (zobovʺjázannja), обо́в'язок (uk) m (obóvʺjazok)
• West Frisian: skuld c
• Zazaki: deyn (diq)

state or condition of owing something to another

• Armenian: պարտք (hy) (partkʻ)
• Bashkir: бурыс (burıs)
• Belarusian: доўг m (doŭh)
• Bulgarian: дълг (bg) m (dǎlg)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (of gratitude) 人情債／人情债 (rénqíngzhài)

• Czech: dluh (cs) m
• Danish: gæld (da) c
• Dutch: schulden (nl) pl
• Esperanto: ŝuldo
• Faroese: skuld f
• Finnish: velka (fi)
• Galician: débeda (gl) f
• Georgian: ვალი (vali), მოვალეობა (movaleoba)
• German: Schulden (de) f, Verbindlichkeit (de) f
• Greek: χρέος (el) n (chréos)
• Hungarian: adósság (hu), tartozás (hu)
• Indonesian: berutang (id)
• Ingrian: velka
• Italian: debito (it) m, buffo (it) m
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: قەرزار (qerzar)

• Lithuanian: skola (lt) f, įsiskolinimas (lt) m
• Macedonian: долг m (dolg)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: gjeld m or f

• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: длъгъ m (dlŭgŭ)

• Polish: zadłużenie (pl) n
• Portuguese: dívida (pt) f, débito (pt) m
• Romanian: datorie (ro) f
• Russian: долг (ru) m (dolg), задо́лженность (ru) f (zadólžennostʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: fiach m, comain f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ду̑г m

  Roman: dȗg (sh) m

• Slovak: dlh m
• Slovene: dolg (sl) m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: dług m

  Upper Sorbian: dołh m

• Spanish: deuda (es) f
• Swedish: skuld (sv) c
• Tarifit: amerwas m
• Turkish: borç (tr)
• Ukrainian: борг (uk) m (borh)
• West Frisian: skuld c

money that one person or entity owes or is required to pay to another

• Albanian: borxh (sq) m
• Arabic: دَيْن (ar) m (dayn), قَرْض m (qarḍ), قِرْض m (qirḍ)
• Armenian: պարտք (hy) (partkʻ)
• Azerbaijani: borc (az)
• Bashkir: бурыс (burıs)
• Basque: zor
• Belarusian: доўг m (doŭh)
• Bengali: ঋণ (bn) (rin), কর্জ (bn) (korjo)
• Bulgarian: дълг (bg) m (dǎlg)
• Burmese: မြီ (my) (mri), ကြွေး (my) (krwe:)
• Catalan: deute (ca)
• Cebuano: utang
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 借款 (zh) (jièkuǎn), 欠款 (zh) (qiànkuǎn), 債務／债务 (zh) (zhàiwù)

• Czech: dluh (cs) m
• Danish: gæld (da) c
• Dupaningan Agta: gahut
• Dutch: schulden (nl) pl
• Esperanto: ŝuldo
• Estonian: võlg
• Faroese: skuld f
• Finnish: velka (fi)
• French: dette (fr) f
• Galician: débeda (gl) f
• Georgian: ვალი (vali), თავანი (ka) (tavani)
• German: Schulden (de) f, Verbindlichkeit (de) f
• Greek: χρέος (el) n (chréos)

  Ancient Greek: χρέος n (khréos)

• Hebrew: חוֹב (he) m (khov)
• Hindi: क़र्ज़ m (qarz), ऋण (hi) m (ŕṇ)
• Hungarian: adósság (hu), tartozás (hu)
• Icelandic: skuld (is) f
• Indonesian: utang (id)
• Irish: dette f
• Italian: debito (it) m, buffo (it) m
• Japanese: 負債 (ja) (ふさい, fusai), 借金 (ja) (しゃっきん, shakkin)
• Kazakh: қарыз (qaryz)
• Khmer: បំណុល (km) (bɑmnol)
• Korean: 빚 (ko) (bit), 부채(負債) (ko) (buchae), 차금(借金) (chageum)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: قەرز (qerz)

  Northern Kurdish: qer (ku) m

• Kyrgyz: карыз (ky) (karız)
• Lao: ໜີ້ (lo) (nī)
• Latvian: parāds
• Lithuanian: skola (lt) f
• Macedonian: долг m (dolg)
• Malay: hutang (ms)
• Maltese: dejn m
• Maori: moni tārewa
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: зээл (mn) (zeel), өр (mn) (ör)

• Nepali: कर्जा (ne) (karjā), ऋण (ne) (r̥ṇ)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: gjeld m or f

• Nupe: gbàtà
• Occitan: deute (oc)
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: длъгъ m (dlŭgŭ)

• Pashto: قرض (ps) m (qarz), دين (ps) m (dayn)
• Persian: بِدِهی (fa) (bedehi), قَرض (fa) (qarz), دِین (fa) (deyn)
• Polish: dług (pl) m inan
• Portuguese: dívida (pt) f, débito (pt) m
• Romanian: datorie (ro) f
• Russian: долг (ru) m (dolg), задо́лженность (ru) f (zadólžennostʹ)
• Sanskrit: ऋण (sa) n (ṛṇa)
• Scottish Gaelic: fiach m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ду̑г m

  Roman: dȗg (sh) m

• Shan: ၼီႈ (shn) (nīi)
• Slovak: dlh m
• Slovene: dôlg (sl) m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: dług m

• Spanish: deuda (es) f, pufo m (colloquial)
• Swahili: deni (sw) class ji/ma
• Swedish: skuld (sv) c, gäld (sv) c
• Tagalog: utang (tl)
• Tajik: қарз (qarz), дайн (tg) (dayn)
• Tatar: бурыч (tt) (burıç)
• Telugu: అప్పు (te) (appu)
• Thai: หนี้ (th) (nîi)
• Turkish: borç (tr)
• Turkmen: bergi (tk)
• Ukrainian: борг (uk) m (borh)
• Urdu: قَرْض m (qarz)
• Uyghur: قەرز (qerz)
• Uzbek: qarz (uz), nasiya (uz), dayn (uz)
• Vietnamese: nợ (vi) (嫧)
• West Frisian: skuld c
• Yoruba: gbèsè
• Zazaki: vedeyn

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Afrikaans: ^{(please verify)} skuld (af)
• French: ^{(please verify)} dette (fr)
• Ido: ^{(please verify)} debajo (io)
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} debita, ^{(please verify)} debito
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} debitum n

  Roman: ^{(please verify)} dug (sh) m

See also

• owe

Further reading

• “debt”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “debt”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Middle English

Noun

debt

1. Alternative form of dette