Etymologically
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debt

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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English dette,[2][3] borrowed from Old French dete, dette,[2][3][4] from Vulgar Latin *dēbita, the plural of Latin dēbitum taken as a feminine noun,[5][4] from Latin dēbitum (“thing owed”), the neuter past participle of dēbēre (“to owe”),[2][3] originally “to keep something away from someone”, from dē- “away” and habēre “to have”,[2][3][4] from Proto-Indo-European *ghabh- (“to give or receive”).[2] The b was put back in imitation of Latin, in French from the 13th to the 16th century[4] and in English from about 1400,[2] first recorded in the plural debtes about 1405;[3] the b was never pronounced.[4] It is related to debit, debtor and due.[6][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Something owed: before 1300 in the OED,[7] about 1300 in Etymonline,[2] and about 1280 in Barnhart.[3] As a liability or obligation to pay, the OED has about 1290.[7]

Semantic evolution

“The state of being under obligation to pay” is from the mid-14th century,[2] and in debt from about 1314.[7] In biblical language, as in “forgive us our debts”, a debt is a sin needing expiation (before 1225).[7][8] In Middle English the debt of the body was what spouses owed each other, sexual intercourse.[2] A debt of honour, not legally enforceable, is from 1646.[7] The adjective “owed” was in use from the 14th to the 17th century, as in Shakespeare's Hamlet.[9][7]

Timeline

  • before 1225 – a sin.[7]
  • c. 1290 – an obligation to pay.[7]
  • c. 1300 – something owed.[2]
  • c. 1314 – in debt.[7]
  • c. 1400 – the spelling with b.[2]
  • 1646 – debt of honour.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Something owed, such as money, goods or services.
  2. An obligation to pay or render something to someone.
  3. The condition of owing: deep in debt.
  4. An offence needing forgiveness; a trespass.

Word family

  • debtless
  • debt of honor
  • national debt
  • oxygen debt
  • debit
  • debitor
  • debtor
  • indebted
  • due
  • duty
  • habit

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press