neither a borrower nor a lender be

proverb

It is not good to borrow money from anybody, lest you will lose their trust and friendship.

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Meanings

proverb
  1. It is not good to borrow money from anybody, lest you will lose their trust and friendship.

Origin

From Act 1, Scene 3 of the play Hamlet.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

neither a borrower nor a lender be. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/neither%20a%20borrower%20nor%20a%20lender%20be

MLA

“neither a borrower nor a lender be.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/neither%20a%20borrower%20nor%20a%20lender%20be. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “neither a borrower nor a lender be,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/neither%20a%20borrower%20nor%20a%20lender%20be.

Source: neither a borrower nor a lender be on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.