debtor
Americannoun
-
debtors
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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 ( see 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.
See Examples For:
It ended 2025 as Africa's fourth-largest IMF debtor, with $4.1 billion outstanding, and recently received a further $365 million under a bailout programme.
From Barron's ● Jan. 29, 2026
As Japanese rates rise, debtor nations will feel pressure to offer higher rates to keep Japanese investors buying their bonds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 24, 2026
“It’s not a routine Chapter 11 case,” a lawyer for lenders that have agreed to provide First Brands with more than $1 billion in emergency debtor financing told the judge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 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
Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the authors write, tried to ensure that only “honest but unfortunate” debtors benefited from bankruptcy’s by directing “professional bankrupts . . . to restitution or jail.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Some of these debtors don’t know who to contact to make payments, or may believe that the loan servicer trying to contact them demanding payment, which they have never heard of, is a scam.
From Barron's ● Feb. 10, 2026
The more likely scenario is that the park’s assets and land, which were recently valued around $21 million, will be liquidated to pay back his debtors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2024
The McConnell bill also would set new limits on where litigants in patent cases and debtors seeking bankruptcy can file their cases.
From New York Times ● Apr. 10, 2024
Magic lions are sent to kill delinquent debtors, and snakes the size of tractors can lie in wait for you in your fields.
From "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind" by William Kamkwamba
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.
