Debtor

How to spell debtor

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce debtor

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does debtor mean?

1. nounA person or organisation that owes money or a debt to another.

Debtor in a sentence

• The court ordered the debtor to repay the loan in monthly instalments.

• As a debtor, she received several letters demanding payment.

Where does debtor come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin debitor, meaning 'one who owes', which was built on the verb debere, 'to owe'. That verb was itself a contraction of de habere, literally 'to have from' or 'to keep something belonging to another', so a debtor was originally just someone holding what was not really theirs. English took the word in during the 1200s and 1300s through Old French, where it had been worn down to forms like dettour and dettor, with no 'b' pronounced or written. Later scholars, keen to show off the Latin pedigree, reinserted the silent 'b' into both 'debt' and 'debtor' even though no one ever said it, which is exactly why the letter still ambushes writers today. The same debere root survives in 'debit', 'due', and 'duty', all quiet relatives of the unpaid bill.

How the word is built

• debt (from Latin debitum: a thing owed)
• -or (agent suffix: one who does)