debt

English

/dɛt/

noun
Definitions
  • An action, state of mind, or object one has an obligation to perform for another, adopt toward another, or give to another.
  • The state or condition of owing something to another.
  • 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.
  • (legal) An action at law to recover a certain specified sum of money alleged to be due.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English dette derived from Old French dete derived from Latin dēbita, dēbitum (a debt, what is owed, a duty, debt) root from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ- (take, grab, hold).

Origin

Proto-Indo-European

*gʰeh₁bʰ-

Gloss

take, grab, hold

Concept
Semantic Field

Possession

Ontological Category

Action/Process

Emoji

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms