owe

B1 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /oʊ/ UK /əʊ/ See IPA manual

Homophones

oh /oʊ/

Freq #1108

Meanings

1

verb
To have to pay money back to someone.

They owe me two hundred dollars that I hope to get back soon.
2

verb
To feel that you should do something for someone because of what they have done for you.

We owe it to our children to make the world a better place.
3

verb
To have something as a result of someone or something else.

The song owes its success to the brilliant guitar solos.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms owedowesowest

Derived forms ower

Appears in

Proverbs (1)

See all

The world owes you a living

Etymology

From Middle English owen, from Old English āgan, from Proto-West Germanic *aigan (“to own”), from Proto-Germanic *aiganą, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eh₂óyḱe (“to possess, own”), reduplicated stative of *h₂eyḱ- (“to own”). See also own, ought. Cognate with Sanskrit ईष्टे (īṣṭe, “to own, possess”).

*h₂eyḱ- Proto-Indo-European owen Middle English āgan Old English *aigan Proto-West Germanic *aiganą Proto-Germanic *h₂eh₂óyḱe Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# owe

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /oʊ/
**IPA (UK):** /əʊ/
**Frequency rank:** 1108

## Meanings
1. To have to pay money back to someone.
2. To feel that you should do something for someone because of what they have done for you.
3. To have something as a result of someone or something else.

## Examples
- They owe me two hundred dollars that I hope to get back soon.
- We owe it to our children to make the world a better place.
- The song owes its success to the brilliant guitar solos.

## Derived Forms
- ower

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *h₂eyḱ-
- Root: owen
- Root: āgan
- Root: *aigan
- Root: *aiganą
- Root: *h₂eh₂óyḱe

## Etymology
From Middle English owen, from Old English āgan, from Proto-West Germanic *aigan (“to own”), from Proto-Germanic *aiganą, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eh₂óyḱe (“to possess, own”), reduplicated stative of *h₂eyḱ- (“to own”). See also own, ought. Cognate with Sanskrit ईष्टे (īṣṭe, “to own, possess”).

## AI Etymology
Owe comes from Middle English owen, from Old English āgan, from Proto-West Germanic *aigan (“to own”), from Proto-Germanic *aiganą, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eh₂óyḱe (“to possess, own”), reduplicated stative of *h₂eyḱ- (“to own”). See also own, ought. Cognate with Sanskrit ईष्टे (īṣṭe, “to own, possess”). The historical chain includes Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyḱ-, Middle English owen, Old English āgan, Proto-West Germanic *aigan, Proto-Germanic *aiganą, and Proto-Indo-European *h₂eh₂óyḱe. Modern senses include to have to pay money back to someone and to feel that you should do something for someone because of what they have done for you. The wider word family includes derivatives such as ower.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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owe