owe

Contents

EnglishEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Middle English owen, from Old English āgan, from Proto-Germanic *aiganą, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyḱ- (“to own”). See also own, ought.

PronunciationEdit

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əʊ/
• (US) enPR: ō, IPA^(key): /oʊ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Homophones: o, oh
• Rhymes: -əʊ

VerbEdit

owe (third-person singular simple present owes, present participle owing, simple past and past participle owed)

1. To be under an obligation to give something back to someone or to perform some action for someone.
   • 1854, Dickens, Hard Times, Chapter 7:

     He inherited a fair fortune from his uncle, but owed it all before he came into it, and spent it twice over immediately afterwards.

2. To have debt, to be in debt.

Usage notesEdit

• The original past tense form was ought, which during Middle English began to be used with indefinite signification and has become a distinct verb. The original past participle has become the adjective own.

TranslationsEdit

to be under an obligation

• Dutch: schuldig zijn
• Finnish: olla velkaa
• French: devoir (fr)
• Greek: χρωστάω (el) (chrostáo), χρωστώ (el) (chrostó)
• Ido: debar (io)
• Italian: dovere (it)
• Latin: debeo (la)
• Occitan: dever
• Persian: مدیون بودن‏‎ (fa) (madyun budan), بدهکار بودن‏‎ (bedehkâr budan)

• Polish: być zobowiązanym
• Portuguese: dever (pt)
• Romanian: datora (ro)
• Russian: быть до́лжным (bytʹ dólžnym), быть обя́занным (bytʹ objázannym), быть в долгу́ (bytʹ v dolgú)
• Slovene: dolgovati
• Spanish: deber (es), adeudar (es)
• Swedish: vara skyldig
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} Borçluluk, ^{(please verify)} müzayaka (tr)

to be in debt

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 欠 (zh) (qiàn), 欠債 (zh), 欠债 (zh) (qiànzhài)

• Czech: dlužit
• Dutch: schuldig zijn
• Finnish: olla velkaa, olla veloissa
• French: devoir (fr)
• German: schulden (de), schuldig sein
• Greek:

  Ancient: ὀφείλω (opheílō)

• Hungarian: tartozik (hu)
• Italian: dovere (it)
• Japanese: 借りがある (かりがある, kari ga aru), 負う (ja) (おう, ou)
• Korean: 빚지고 있다 (bitjigo itda)
• Latin: debeo (la)
• Malay: berhutang

• Occitan: dever
• Persian: بدهکار بودن‏‎ (bedehkâr budan)
• Polish: mieć dług, być winnym, winić (pl)
• Portuguese: dever (pt)
• Romanian: datora (ro)
• Russian: (predicative) до́лжен (ru) m (dólžen), должна́ f (dolžná), должны́ (ru) pl (dolžný), быть до́лжным (bytʹ dólžnym), быть в долгу́ (bytʹ v dolgú)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: дуговати

  Roman: dugovati (sh)

• Slovene: dolgovati
• Spanish: estar en deuda, deber (es), adeudar (es)
• Swedish: vara skyldig
• Turkish: borçlu olmak
• Ukrainian: ви́нен m (výnen), ви́нна f (výnna), ви́нні m pl, f pl (výnni), бу́ти ви́нним (búty výnnym)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Arabic: ^{(please verify)} يَكُون مَدِينًا لَهُ‏‎ (yakūn madīnan lahu)
• Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} дължа (bg) (dǎlža)
• Czech: ^{(please verify)} dlužit
• Hungarian: ^{(please verify)} tartozik (hu)
• Ido: ^{(please verify)} debar (io)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} dovere (it), ^{(please verify)} essere debitore di

• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 빚지다 (bitjida)
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} dēbeō
• Macedonian: ^{(please verify)} должи (dólži)
• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} dugòvati
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} vara skyldig

AnagramsEdit

• woe

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AvavaEdit

NounEdit

owe

1. water

Further readingEdit

• Terry Crowley et al, The Avava Language of Central Malakula (Vanuatu) (2006)