borrow

Meaning

Verb

1. To receive (something) from somebody temporarily, expecting to return it.
2. To receive money from a bank or other lender under the agreement that the lender will be paid back over time.
3. To adopt (an idea) as one's own.
4. To adopt a word from another language.
5. In a subtraction, to deduct (one) from a digit of the minuend and add ten to the following digit, in order that the subtraction of a larger digit in the subtrahend from the digit in the minuend to which ten is added gives a positive result.
6. (Malaysia, Singapore, West-Midlands, proscribed) To lend.
7. (ditransitive) To temporarily obtain (something) for (someone).
8. To feign or counterfeit.
9. To secure the release of (someone) from prison.
10. (informal) To receive (something, usually of trifling value) from somebody, with little possibility of returning it.
11. (informal) To interrupt the current activity of (a person) and lead them away in order to speak with them, get their help, etc.
12. To adjust one's aim in order to compensate for the slope of the green.

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) Deviation of the path of a rolling ball from a straight line; slope; slant.
2. (countable, uncountable) A borrow pit.
3. (countable, uncountable) In Rust and some other programming languages, the situation where the ownership of a value is temporarily transferred to another region of code.

Noun

1. (archaic) A ransom; a pledge or guarantee.
2. (archaic) A surety; someone standing bail.

Synonyms

lend

loan

rent

hire

adopt

take over

take

advance

have a loan

take on loan

take up

charter

lease

take out

use

be in debt

buy on credit

get

guarantee

guaranty

deposit

l

raise a loan

debt

debit

mooch

naturalize

obligation

occupy

owe

pawn

pledge

pray

🛐

quote

cite

request

scab

scrounge

security

charge

bail

cadge

borrowing

trust

try out

ask

to take

borrow digit

float a loan

incur a debt

Translations

emprunter

leihen

borgen

lenen

δανείζομαι

ausleihen

prendere in prestito

pedir prestado

entleihen

tomar prestado

emprestar

entlehnen

pedir emprestado

prêter

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈbɒɹ.əʊ/

Etymology

Cognate with Dutch: borgen

Cognate with German: borgen

Cognate with Danish: borge

Cognate with Old English: beorgan

Inherited from Middle English: borwe

Inherited from Old English: borh

In summary

From Middle English borwen, borȝien, Old English borgian (“to borrow, lend, pledge surety for”), from Proto-West Germanic *borgōn, from Proto-Germanic *burgōną (“to pledge, take care of”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰergʰ- (“to take care”).
Cognate with Dutch borgen (“to borrow, trust”), German borgen (“to borrow, lend”), Danish borge (“to vouch”). Related to Old English beorgan (“to save, preserve”). More at bury.

Sentences

For their first exercises the gunners had to borrow horses to pull their guns .

Prepackaged campaigns also borrow from pop culture .