debtor
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
- nondebtor noun
- predebtor noun
Etymology
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 ( debt ) + -tor -tor
Explanation
A debtor is someone who owes money. If you borrow from a bank to buy a car, you are a debtor. Most of us are debtors at some point in our lives. We borrow money to buy houses or cars, to attend college, or to tide us over when we're between jobs. Businesses and large institutions can also be debtors, and even countries are often debtors. If a developing country borrows money from a wealthier one, the borrower is a debtor. The opposite of a debtor is a creditor.
Vocabulary lists containing debtor
Vocabulary from the Magna Carta on its 800th Anniversary
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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.
The state does not notify a person when a lien names them as the debtor, allowing fake filings to remain in California’s public database for years before a victim discovers them.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 6, 2026
Luminar Semi isn’t a debtor in Luminar’s chapter 11 cases and its operations are expected to be unaffected by the chapter 11 filing, the company said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 15, 2025
Those failed attempts have made Argentina the International Monetary Fund’s largest debtor, with more than $41 billion currently owed to the IMF.
From Barron's • Oct. 17, 2025
Pakistan has taken more than 20 loans from the IMF since 1958 and is currently its fifth-largest debtor.
From BBC • Sep. 25, 2024
You are the debtor who is always paid.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
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.
