nonbank

N1O1N1B3A1N1K5

adjective

Not a bank

“Many mortgages originate with nonbank lenders.”

UncommonScrabble 13

Meanings

adjectivenonbank (not comparable)
  1. not comparableNot a bank

    Many mortgages originate with nonbank lenders.

    1 more example

    CFPB also went after a Chicago-based nonbank mortgage firm, Townstone Financial, for supposed discrimination and to effectively censor the owner’s speech.

    2025 February 10, CRA Staff, “Primer: The CFPB Should Be Shut Down”, in Center for Renewing America
nounnonbank (plural nonbanks)

plural nonbanks

  1. An institution, especially a financial institution, which is not a bank

    Loan-making standards need to be subject to regulatory scrutiny, both at banks and nonbanks.

    2007 September 30, “Things Go Better With Rules”, in The New York Times

Origin

  1. Englishnon-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeg-
  3. Proto-Germanic*bankiz
  4. Proto-West Germanic*banki
  5. Lombardicbank
  6. Italianbanca
  7. Middle Frenchbanque
  8. Englishbank
  9. Englishnonbank

From non- + bank.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

nonbank. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nonbank

MLA

“nonbank.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nonbank. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nonbank,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nonbank.

Source: nonbank on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.