Borrowed

How to spell borrowed

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce borrowed

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does borrowed mean?

1. verbTook and used something belonging to someone else with the intention of returning it.
2. adjectiveTaken on loan or used temporarily rather than owned outright.

Borrowed in a sentence

• verb

  She borrowed a pen from the receptionist to sign the form.

• adjective

  The entire outfit was borrowed from a friend for the wedding.

• verb

  They borrowed a large sum from the bank to buy the flat.

• adjective

  Living on borrowed money made her uneasy about the future.

Where does borrowed come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is the past form of 'borrow', which descends from the Old English verb borgian, meaning 'to lend' or 'to take something on the strength of a pledge'. That word grew from the noun borg, meaning a pledge or security, and is related to beorgan, 'to protect or keep safe', the same family that gives us 'borough' and the German word Burg for a fortified place. The underlying idea was that goods handed over were protected by a guarantee that they would be returned, which is exactly the sense of temporary use that survives today. Curiously, the very early meaning leaned toward the lender's side of the bargain before settling on the taker's side, so a word once tied to giving security now describes receiving something on trust. The spelling keeps the double 'r' and the soft '-ow' ending of the Old English root, and the regular '-ed' is simply added without doubling, which is the small point writers sometimes second-guess.

How the word is built

• borrow (from Old English borgian: to lend, to take on pledge)
• -ed (past tense / past participle suffix)