 |
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Debt \Debt\, noun [OE. dette, F. dette, LL. debita, fr. L. debitus owed, p. p. of debere to owe, prop., to have on loan; de- + habere to have. See {Habit}, and cf. {Debit}, {Due}.]
1. That which is due from one person to another, whether money, goods, or services; that which one person is bound to pay to another, or to perform for his benefit; thing owed; obligation; liability.
Your son, my lord, has paid a soldier's debt. --Shak.
When you run in debt, you give to another power over your liberty. --Franklin.
2. A duty neglected or violated; a fault; a sin; a trespass. ''Forgive us our debts.'' --Matt. vi. 12.
3. (Law) An action at law to recover a certain specified sum of money alleged to be due. --Burrill.
{Bond debt}, {Book debt}, etc. See under {Bond}, {Book}, etc.
{Debt of nature}, death.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
debt
noun
1: the state of owing something (especially money); "he is badly in debt"
2: money or goods or services owed by one person to another
3: an obligation to pay or do something
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
45 Moby Thesaurus words for "debt": accountability, accountable, answerable for, arrearage, arrears, beholden, borrowing, debit, debtor, default, deficit, delinquency, due, encumbered, encumbrance, financing, hire purchase, hitting, hitting-up, hocking, in arrears, in debt, in hock, in the red, indebted, indebtedness, installment buying, installment plan, liability, liable, money-raising, mortgaging, nonpayment, obligation, owing, pawning, pledging, responsibility, responsible, sin, straitened, touching, under obligation, wickedness, wrong
From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:
DEBT, noun An ingenious substitute for the chain and whip of the slave- driver.
As, pent in an aquarium, the troutlet Swims round and round his tank to find an outlet, Pressing his nose against the glass that holds him, Nor ever sees the prison that enfolds him; So the poor debtor, seeing naught around him, Yet feels the narrow limits that impound him, Grieves at his debt and studies to evade it, And finds at last he might as well have paid it. Barlow S. Vode
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:
Debt The Mosaic law encouraged the practice of lending (Deut. 15:7; Ps. 37:26; Matt. 5:42); but it forbade the exaction of interest except from foreigners. Usury was strongly condemned (Prov. 28:8; Ezek. 18:8, 13, 17; 22:12; Ps. 15:5). On the Sabbatical year all pecuniary obligations were cancelled (Deut. 15:1-11). These regulations prevented the accumulation of debt.
 |
Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |