noun
Other Word Forms
- creditorship noun
- noncreditor noun
- precreditor noun
Etymology
Origin of creditor
1400–50; late Middle English creditour < Latin crēditor, equivalent to crēdi- variant stem of crēdere to believe, entrust ( 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.
Earlier this month, the city of L.A. struck a bankruptcy exit deal that resolves creditor disputes and opens up the possibility of a sale, paving the way for change.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 16, 2026
Venezuela owes at least $10 billion to China, its largest creditor.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 24, 2026
It’s the world’s No. 2 creditor nation after Germany.
From Barron's • Jan. 22, 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.
