debtor

[det-er]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR debtor ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person who is in debt or under financial obligation to another (opposed to creditor).

Origin of debtor

1250–1300; Middle English detto(u)r < Anglo-French dett(o)ur, de(b)tour, Old French det(t)or < Latin dēbitōr-, stem of dēbitor, equivalent to dēbi-, variant stem of dēbēre (see debt) + -tor -tor

Related formsnon·debt·or, nounpre·debt·or, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for debtor

defaulter, borrower, account, bankrupt, deadbeat, risk, welsher, mortgagor

Examples from the Web for debtor

Contemporary Examples of debtor

But that means that the debtor will be on the hook for somewhere around 25% of the forgiven debt.
Ask the Blogger
Megan McArdle
December 3, 2012
Bartleby ends in debtor's prison, where the lawyer visits him and finds him - dead.
David's Bookclub: Bartleby the Scrivener
David Frum
November 26, 2012
Given all that, the chances of the IRS coming after the debtor for income tax on the forgiven debt are exactly zero.
Debt and Taxes
Megan McArdle
November 14, 2012
In Europe the principal divide that has opened is among countries, with debtor nations pitted against creditor nations.
Top Economists on How to Fix the Economy
October 12, 2011
The document gave Billings claim to all personal property, bank accounts, and future earnings of the debtor.
New Suspect in Florida Killings
Rick Outzen
July 23, 2009

Historical Examples of debtor

When he was overpowered by these fits, the debtor often turned it for him.
Little Dorrit
Charles Dickens
She had nothing to reproach him with; on the contrary, she felt she was his debtor.
His Masterpiece
Emile Zola
We have paid our debts; we have become a creditor rather than a debtor nation.
Latin America and the United States
Elihu Root
No man lives in freedom anywhere on earth who is not his debtor and his follower.
Latin America and the United States
Elihu Root
But Blake was playing for a fortune, for shelter from a debtor's prison.
Mistress Wilding
Rafael Sabatini

British Dictionary definitions for debtor

debtor

noun

a person or commercial enterprise that owes a financial obligationCompare creditor

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for debtor

early 13c., dettur, dettour, from Old French detour, from Latin debitor "a debter," from past participle stem of debere; see debt. The -b- was restored in later French, and in English c.1560-c.1660. The KJV has detter three times, debter three times, debtor twice and debtour once.