indebtedness

C2+ Topic:Abstract Ideas

US /ɪnˈdɛtɪdnəs/ UK /ɪnˈdɛtɪdnəs/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
the state of owing money or gratitude

Years of indebtedness finally forced the firm into bankruptcy.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the state of owing money or... debt obligation liability arrears gratitude

Opposites

solvencycreditworthiness

Word family

Related forms indebted debt debtor debit

Etymology

From indebted + -ness; indebted from Old French endette, past participle of endetter ('to involve in debt'), from en- + dette ('debt'), from Latin debitum ('thing owed'), from debere ('to owe').

debere Latin habere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Abstract Ideas Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# indebtedness

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ɪnˈdɛtɪdnəs/
**IPA (UK):** /ɪnˈdɛtɪdnəs/

## Meanings
1. the state of owing money or gratitude

## Examples
- Years of indebtedness finally forced the firm into bankruptcy.

## Synonyms
- debt
- obligation
- liability
- arrears
- gratitude

## Antonyms
- solvency
- creditworthiness

## Related Forms
- indebted
- debt
- debtor
- debit

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: debere
- Root: habere

## Etymology
From indebted + -ness; indebted from Old French endette, past participle of endetter ('to involve in debt'), from en- + dette ('debt'), from Latin debitum ('thing owed'), from debere ('to owe').

## AI Etymology
indebtedness comes from indebted + -ness; indebted from Old French endette, past participle of endetter ('to involve in debt'), from en- + dette ('debt'), from Latin debitum ('thing owed'), from debere ('to owe'). Morphologically, the ending is part of the etymology: the suffix is attached to the older base named in the history, producing a later English derivative. In present English, the noun sense is "the state of owing money or gratitude", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as indebted, debt, debtor, and debit. Its semantic neighborhood includes debt, obligation, liability, and arrears, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Latin debere and Latin habere.

## Topics
- Abstract Ideas
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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