loan
1 Americannoun
-
the act of lending; a grant of the temporary use of something.
the loan of a book.
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something lent or furnished on condition of being returned, especially a sum of money lent at interest.
a $1000 loan at 10 percent interest.
verb (used with object)
-
loans,
present (3rd person singular)
-
loaned,
past participle, past
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loaning
present participle
-
to make a loan of; lend.
Will you loan me your umbrella?
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to lend (money) at interest.
verb (used without object)
-
loans,
present (3rd person singular)
-
loaned,
past participle, past
-
loaning
present participle
idioms
noun
-
a country lane; secondary road.
-
an uncultivated plot of farmland, usually used for milking cows.
noun
-
the act of lending
the loan of a car
-
-
property lent, esp money lent at interest for a period of time
-
( as modifier )
loan holder
-
-
the adoption by speakers of one language of a form current in another language
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short for loan word
-
-
lent out; borrowed
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(esp of personnel) transferred from a regular post to a temporary one elsewhere
-
verb
noun
-
a lane
-
a place where cows are milked
Usage
Sometimes mistakenly identified as an Americanism, loan1 as a verb meaning “to lend” has been used in English for nearly 800 years: Nearby villages loaned clothing and other supplies to the flood-ravaged town. The occasional objections to loan as a verb referring to things other than money, are comparatively recent. Loan is standard in all contexts but is perhaps most common in financial ones: The government has loaned money to farmers to purchase seed.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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loansimple
-
loanssimple
-
have loanedperfect
-
has loanedperfect
-
am loaningprogressive
-
are loaningprogressive
-
is loaningprogressive
-
have been loaningperfect progressive
-
has been loaningperfect progressive
Past
-
loanedsimple
-
had loanedperfect
-
was loaningprogressive
-
were loaningprogressive
-
had been loaningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of loan1
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English noun lon(e), lan(e), Old English lān, from Old Norse lān; replacing its cognate, Old English lǣn “loan, grant,” cognate with Dutch leen “loan,” German Leh(e)n “fief”; cf. lend
Origin of loan2
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English lane, lone, Old English lane, lane 1
Explanation
If you want to buy a car but don't have money, you'll need a loan: a sum of money given temporarily that must be repaid, often with interest, or an added percentage on top the original sum. You can loan money or objects. If you loan someone your car, make sure he's a good driver. You might loan your friend a sweatshirt if she's cold and doesn't have one. Expect to get both your car and your sweatshirt back. A word that is borrowed from another language is called a loanword, like the word karaoke, which is Japanese.
Vocabulary lists containing loan
Commonly Confused Words, List 1
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Achievement First 5th Grade IA 1 Words
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The Great Depression and The New Deal
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Something similar could be under way with Japan’s plans to use an emergency Fed loan facility to raise cash to prop up the yen without having to sell its hoard of Treasurys.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
"If you're planning to apply for a loan or mortgage in the next 12 months, you may want to wait until the deal is done," says Coles.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Mudryk and Sarr are targeting Premier League loan moves, Jackson is available for £65m, Delap for £50m, while Tosin has interest from Benfica and Marseille.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
Higher borrowing costs would sock it to home buyers, heavy credit-card users and anyone needing a loan.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
The timing had worked out similarly for my sister when, two years prior, they were able to get a loan to pay for her last year of college.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
Last year, New York real-estate investors were alleged to have committed fraud in receiving loans to acquire hundreds of Baltimore vacant properties.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
The lightning-quick sale of the Lakers to Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner comes as Mark Walter faces federal probes into allegedly conflicted insurance loans.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
As well as student loans, most universities offer a variety of scholarships and bursaries, and it's worth checking whether you're eligible.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
The show also features numerous loans from private collectors and institutions, most notably a rare figural lira da braccio from Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum and an exquisitely decorated hurdy-gurdy from London’s Victoria & Albert Museum.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
He learned what was really going on inside the market for consumer loans.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Chen said Bo, Panshi and another associate had loaned more than $2 million to the developers of an apartment complex, prompting lawsuits over unpaid debts and control of the property.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
It piled up dollars selling Americans cars and gadgets, then loaned those dollars right back by buying U.S.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Under the proposed terms of the deal, £1m would be loaned to a firm controlled by the prince, which would then be bound to do business exclusively with Cantor Fitzgerald.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
Dimon’s bankers estimated that they would have loaned and advised on approximately $1 trillion worth of transactions for those clients over the next 10 years just by using the bank’s current strategies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
She would then be loaned long-term to Root’s Intelligence Section.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has dispatched about 150 personnel and 20 engines to Washington, while individual California fire departments are also loaning crews.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
In return, the museum is loaning treasures including from the Sutton Hoo hoard as well as the Lewis chess pieces, made from walrus ivory in the 12th Century.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
The deal would involve the U.S. government loaning as much as $500 million to Spirit, and receiving warrants to take a stake in the low-cost carrier in return, the Journal said.
From Barron's ● Apr. 22, 2026
You would likely not see any money you gave him, so even loaning him money would merely start a bad habit that could be hard to break.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 21, 2026
So she started loaning out money—a loan shark.
From "American Street" by Ibi Zoboi
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
