down payment

American  

Or down-payment

noun

1. an initial amount paid at the time of purchase, in installment buying, time sales, etc.

2. any initial or partial payment, gift, favor, or recompense, as to reduce one's indebtedness or express one's obligation or gratitude.

   This gift is just a down payment for all the favors I owe you.

---

down payment British  

noun

1. the deposit paid on an item purchased on hire-purchase, mortgage, etc

---

down payment Cultural  

1. A payment in part made at the time of purchase of a good, with the promise to make full payment later.

---

Etymology

Origin of down payment

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

This week Quentin Fottrell — the Moneyist — answered a question from a woman who plans to give $20,000 to her son to help with a down payment for a home.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 5, 2026

But five years ago, he agreed to put $12,000 toward closing costs and part of the down payment for his son’s house.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026

Related: My sister, mother and I are giving my son $20,000 toward a down payment.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 3, 2026

“Saving for a down payment takes much more sacrifice,” he says.

From MarketWatch • May 29, 2026

A few months later, we used the advance for my second novel and placed a down payment on a pretty, two-bedroom Victo­rian house in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights.

From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

Related Words

• deposit