noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of creditor
1400–50; late Middle English creditour < Latin crēditor, equivalent to crēdi- variant stem of crēdere to believe, entrust ( see credit) + -tor -tor
Explanation
If Joe loans you two dollars so you can buy a cup of coffee, Joe is your creditor — you owe him two dollars and a big thank you! If you have a credit card, the bank that issues it to you is your creditor. What they give you is not just a piece of plastic: rather it is a line of credit or a certain amount of money that they have agreed to loan you at fixed terms. Make sure you pay it off every month or you'll become a debtor!
Vocabulary lists containing creditor
Believe It or Not: Cred
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Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - Introductory
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Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - High School
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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.
In some jurisdictions, a fraud victim — like a defrauded bank — may argue for treatment as a special class of creditor with direct access to trust funds.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 16, 2026
Kerr is listed in Delaware bankruptcy documents as the company’s largest creditor — owed $630,000 — although that is listed as disputed.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 1, 2026
That makes it the U.S.’s third-largest creditor, behind the U.K. and Japan.
From Barron's • Feb. 9, 2026
ConocoPhillips is the country’s largest nonsovereign creditor and has been fighting tooth and nail to recoup the roughly $12 billion it is still owed.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 19, 2026
The salesman had told Hale that because he wasn’t Roan’s relative, he could become his beneficiary only if he were his creditor.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
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.
