usury

[ yoo-zhuh-ree ]

noun

, plural u·su·ries.

1. the lending or practice of lending money at an exorbitant interest.
2. an exorbitant amount or rate of interest, especially in excess of the legal rate.
3. Obsolete. interest paid for the use of money.

usury

/ juːˈʒʊərɪəs; ˈjuːʒərɪ /

noun

1. the act or practice of loaning money at an exorbitant rate of interest
2. an exorbitant or unlawfully high amount or rate of interest
3. obsolete.
   moneylending

usury

1. The practice of charging more than the legal interest rate .

Derived Forms

• usurious, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of usury¹

1275–1325; Middle English usurie < Medieval Latin ūsūria (compare Latin ūsūra ), equivalent to Latin ūs ( us ) ( use ) + -ūr ( a ) -ure + -ia -y ³

Word History and Origins

Origin of usury¹

C14: from Medieval Latin ūsūria, from Latin ūsūra usage, from ūsus use

Example Sentences

Those harms are numerous and varied, Del Río says, and can include practices like issuing loans with triple-digit interest rates because fintech companies are often unregulated by the usury laws banks must follow.

From Fortune

On January 29, Francis referred to usury as “a dramatic social ill.”

From The Daily Beast

There's a reason for the biblical bans on usury: in a zero-growth world, lending money at interest is quite likely to ruin people.

From The Daily Beast

“But some in the West may think in the aftermath of the financial crisis, banning usury may be useful,” he muses.

From The Daily Beast

Biblical and Islamic bans on "usury" (lending money at interest) strike most modern people as pretty silly.

From The Daily Beast

For usury and lending upon interest were forbidden by the Church, but trafficking was lawful and permitted.

From Project Gutenberg

She wanted to pay him with usury for his cool, hard disdain.

From Project Gutenberg

Addition and multiplication were his favourite rules, and usury was the foundation of his good deeds.

From Project Gutenberg

Mole-eyes grow hawk's: knowledge is lent In grudging driblets that pay high Unconscionable usury To unrelenting life.

From Project Gutenberg

He invested in the traffic of usury what had sufficed to save a hundred such as I am from perdition, and he lost it all.

From Project Gutenberg