loan

B2 Topic:Money & Finance

US /loʊn/ UK /ləʊn/ See IPA manual

Homophones

lone /loʊn/

Minimal pairs

Sounds like roan /l/ vs /ɹ/

Freq #2774

Meanings

1

noun
An amount of money that you borrow and must pay back, often with extra interest.

She took out a loan from the bank to buy a car.
2

noun
The act of lending something for a short time.

Thank you for the loan of your lawn mower.
3

verb
To lend something to someone.

Could you loan me twenty dollars until payday?

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · an amount of money that you... principal

2 noun · the act of lending... lendingloaning

Word family

Forms loanedloaningloans

Etymology

From Middle English lone, lane, from Old Norse lán, from Proto-Germanic *laihną, from Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- (“to leave (over)”). Cognate with Icelandic lán, Swedish lån, Danish lån, German Lehen (“fief”), Dutch leen (“fief”), West Frisian lien, North Frisian leen (“fief; loan; office”), Scots lane, lain, len, Old English lǣn. More at lend.

*leykʷ- Proto-Indo-European lone Middle English lán Old Norse *laihną Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

External links

# loan

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /loʊn/
**IPA (UK):** /ləʊn/
**Frequency rank:** 2774

## Meanings
1. An amount of money that you borrow and must pay back, often with extra interest.
2. The act of lending something for a short time.
3. To lend something to someone.

## Examples
- She took out a loan from the bank to buy a car.
- Thank you for the loan of your lawn mower.
- Could you loan me twenty dollars until payday?

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *leykʷ-
- Root: lone
- Root: lán
- Root: *laihną

## Etymology
From Middle English lone, lane, from Old Norse lán, from Proto-Germanic *laihną, from Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- (“to leave (over)”). Cognate with Icelandic lán, Swedish lån, Danish lån, German Lehen (“fief”), Dutch leen (“fief”), West Frisian lien, North Frisian leen (“fief; loan; office”), Scots lane, lain, len, Old English lǣn. More at lend.

## AI Etymology
Loan comes from Middle English lone, lane, from Old Norse lán, from Proto-Germanic *laihną, from Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- (“to leave (over)”). Cognate with Icelandic lán, Swedish lån, Danish lån, German Lehen (“fief”), Dutch leen (“fief”), West Frisian lien, North Frisian leen (“fief; loan; office”), Scots lane, lain, len, Old English lǣn. More at lend. In present-day English its meanings include an amount of money that you borrow and must pay back, often with extra interest, the act of lending something for a short time, and to lend something to someone. The historical chain runs through *leykʷ- (Proto-Indo-European), lone (Middle English), lán (Old Norse), and *laihną (Proto-Germanic).

## Topics
- Money & Finance

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loan

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