loan English · revision 3943

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1175|origins=non lán}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ləʊn/, US /loʊn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|lan]], later lon, loan,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|non|lán|t=loan]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*laihwniz]], from a suffixed form of [[ine-pro|*leikʷ-|alt=*leikw-|t=to leave]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) the root also of Greek leípein and Latin linquere “to leave”.^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) The Norse word is cognate with Old Frisian lēn, Dutch leen “loan, fief” and German Lehen “fief”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and with Old English lǣn “gift, loan”, which did not survive into Middle English, though its verb lǣnan is the source of [[lend]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) It is related to [[relinquish]] and [[eclipse]].^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ That which is lent, a thing given on promise of return, and also a gift or reward from a superior: the late 12th century in Etymonline^(Etymonline) and about 1175 in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988) The OED has the gift from a superior before 1240 and the thing lent before 1300.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the early 15th century (1439) it was a contribution to public finances, ostensibly voluntary but often forced.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A government's borrowing on its own credit is from 1765.^(OED 1989) Of a word or custom borrowed by one people from another it is from 1891,^(OED 1989) and ''loanword'' is 19th-century, after German Lehnwort.^(Hoad 1986) The verb is attested from about 1200 in the OED^(OED 1989) and the 1540s in Etymonline;^(Etymonline) it was once current in England but has been supplanted there by lend, and survives in American English.^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) ''Loan shark'' is first attested in 1900.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1175 – a loan.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1200 – verb, to lend.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1240 – a gift from a superior.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1439 – a contribution to public finances.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1765 – a government loan.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1891 – a borrowed word or custom.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1900 – ''loan shark''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Something lent for temporary use.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A sum of money lent, usually at [[interest]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The act of lending; a grant of temporary use: ''the loan of a car''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A temporary transfer of a person to another job or place.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[lend]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[loaner]]

+ * [[loanable]]

+ * [[interloan]]

+ * [[loanblend]]

+ * [[loanshift]]

+ * [[reloan]]

+ * [[loanword]]

+ * [[call loan]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lend]]

+ * [[relinquish]]

+ * [[eclipse]]

+ * [[delinquent]]

+ * [[ellipse]]

+ * [[relic]]

+ * [[lane]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The verb loan is well established in American English and not incorrect, though it is used only of physical transactions such as money or goods; lend is required in figurative uses (''distance lends enchantment'') and fixed expressions such as moneylender.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) A different loan, Scots and northern, means a lane or an open pasture near a farm, a variant of [[lane]] (1362).^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}