Nearby Words
verb (used with object)
1.
to be under obligation to pay or repay: to owe money to the bank; to owe the bank interest on a mortgage.
2.
to be in debt to: He says he doesn't owe anybody.
3.
to be indebted (to) as the cause or source of: to owe one's fame to good fortune.
4.
to have or bear (a feeling or attitude) toward someone or something: to owe gratitude to one's rescuers.
5.
Obsolete. to possess; own.
verb (used without object)
6.
to be in debt: Neither lend nor owe. Who owes for the antipasto?
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Owed
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To owed
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
owe
O.E. agan (pt. ahte) "to have, own," from P.Gmc. *aiganan "to possess" (cf. O.Fris. aga, O.N. eiga, O.H.G. eigan, Goth. aigan "to possess, have"), from PIE *aik- "to be master of, possess" (cf. Skt. ise "he owns," isah "owner, lord, ruler;" Avestan is- "riches," isvan- "well-off, rich"). Sense of "to
EXPANDhave to repay" began in late O.E. with the phrase agan to geldanne lit. "to own to yield," which was used to translate L. debere (earlier in O.E. this would have been sceal "shall"); by c.1175 the phrase had been shortened to simply agan, and own (v.) took over this word's original sense. An original Gmc. preterite-present verb (cf. can, dare, may, etc.). New past tense form owed arose 15c. to replace oughte, which developed into ought (1).
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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