refinance

Etymology

It is formed from English re- + finance, "again" and the verb finance.^[1][2][3][4] The verb finance, to ransom and later to supply with money, comes from the noun,^[2] which is from Old French finance (“end, settlement; payment”), from finer (“to end, settle a debt”).^[2] The noun refinance is a conversion of the verb, after the noun finance.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

To finance a company, venture or the like again; to provide it with further capital: 1895, in the Olean (New York) Democrat.^[1][3] The OED revised the date in 2009; its 1989 edition and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate gave 1908,^[5][6] Etymonline 1901,^[2] and Dictionary.com 1905–10.^[4]

Semantic evolution

From the general sense of providing new capital, the verb came to mean, typically, paying off a loan such as a mortgage with a new one on better terms, especially at a lower rate of interest.^[1][3][7] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate also records it without an object, to finance something anew.^[6] The noun, renewed finance or an instance of refinancing, followed in 1959,^[1][3] at first mainly in compounds such as refinance credit.^[5]

Timeline

• 1895 – to finance again; to provide with further capital.^[1][3]
• 1959 – noun, renewed or additional finance; an instance of refinancing.^[1][3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To pay off a debt, such as a mortgage, with a new loan, usually on better terms or at a lower interest rate: They refinanced the house when rates fell.^[3][7][8][1]
2. To finance something again or reorganize its financing; to provide with further capital.^[3][1]
3. To arrange new financing.^[6]

Noun

1. A new financing that replaces an earlier one; an act of refinancing.^[3][1]

Word family

• refinancer
• refinanceable

Related words

• finance

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins