Lender

How to spell lender

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce lender

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does lender mean?

1. nounA person or organisation that lends money or other things, expecting repayment or return.

Lender in a sentence

• The lender approved the mortgage after reviewing her income.

• Every lender charges a slightly different interest rate.

Where does lender come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The word lender is built on the verb lend, which descends from the Old English lǣnan, meaning 'to grant something on loan' or 'to give temporarily'. That verb in turn came from the noun lǣn, 'a loan or grant', a native Germanic word related to the Old Norse lán and the German Lehen, the term for a feudal tenure or fief held on loan from a lord. The intrusive 'd' in modern lend was not there originally; speakers added it over time, much as they did in 'sound' from earlier 'soun' and in 'thunder', so the agent noun naturally inherited that 'd' as lender. The familiar agent suffix -er, meaning 'one who performs an action', turns the verb into the person or institution that does the lending. By the late medieval period lender was firmly established for anyone who advances money or goods expecting them back, and the financial sense dominates the word today.

How the word is built

• lend (Old English lǣnan: to grant temporarily)
• -er (agent suffix: one who does)