debt

The story

1. Latin · derived fromdēbitum“what is owed, a debt, a duty”
2. Medieval Latin · derived fromdēbita
3. Old French · derived fromdete
4. Middle English · inherited fromdette
5. English todaydebt

From Middle English dette, dett, borrowed from Old French dete (French dette), from Medieval Latin dēbita, from Latin dēbitum (“what is owed, a debt, a duty”), neuter of dēbitus, perfect passive participle of dēbeō (“to owe”), contraction of *dehibeō (“I have from”), from de (“from”) + habeō (“to have”). Doublet of debit. Displaced native Old English eofot. The unpronounced "b" in the modern English spelling is a Latinisation from the Latin etymon dēbitum.

Words from the same roots