reborrowing

plural reborrowings

1. human sciencesA word that passed from language A into language B and thence back into language A. Such words may have changed in meaning and/or form.

   1 more example

   The word flan itself is a relatively recent addition to English, adopted on our behalf from French by the chef Alexis Soyer (a Frenchman working in England), but in that form it is in fact simply a reborrowing of a word which originally crossed the Channel in the 13th century as flawn, denoting some sort of custard tart or cheesecake.

   1990, John Ayto, “flan”, in Dictionary of Word Origins, New York: Arcade, →ISBN, page 230

2. Something reborrowed.

   The borrower will usually argue that the accordion should be considered as a reborrowing of debt already repaid, and therefore should be a redraw of tranche A first.

   2020, John Gilligan, Mike Wright, Private Equity Demystified, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 214

1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of reborrow