English
debt
Debt comes from Old French dete, from Vulgar Latin *depta, contracted from Latin dēbita, plural of dēbitum ‘what is owed’, from dēbeō ‘to owe’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēbeō1‘to owe’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēbitum1‘debt; what is owed’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500dēbita1
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*depta2reconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400dete1‘debt’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dette1
- Englishearliest quotation 1589debt1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English debt
- 2 Wiktionary, Old French dete
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1589, William Shakespeare, Henry IV: “Revenge the jeering and disdain'd contempt / Of this…”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēbeōWiktionary, English debt‘to owe’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēbitumWiktionary, English debt‘debt; what is owed’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500dēbitaWiktionary, English debt
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*deptaWiktionary, Old French detereconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400deteWiktionary, English debt‘debt’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500detteWiktionary, English debt
- Englishearliest quotation 1589debtWiktionary, English debt. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1589, William Shakespeare, Henry IV: “Revenge the jeering and disdain'd contempt / Of this…”
The story
The unpronounced "b" in the modern English spelling is a Latinisation from the Latin etymon dēbitum.
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Today it means
noun An action, state of mind, or object one has an obligation to perform for another, adopt toward another, or give to another.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “debt”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old French dete. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Latin dēbeō / debt