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

A buyer with a $2,500 monthly budget and a 20% down payment can afford to buy a roughly $400,000 home at a 6% mortgage rate, according to real-estate brokerage Redfin.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026

You gave her a down payment and you helped her out with mortgage payments half a dozen times.

From MarketWatch • May 12, 2026

The typical monthly mortgage payment on an existing single-family home, assuming a 20% down payment, was $1,979 in the first quarter, according to data released Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors.

From Barron's • May 5, 2026

Other proposals include $10 billion in bonds to build mixed-income housing on underutilized public lands, limits on investor purchases of single-family homes and an expansion of down payment and other types of mortgage assistance.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026

“Sir, if you have a down payment of three thou, I can make you owner of something a lot better than a pair of rabbits. What about a goat?”

From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick

Related Words

• deposit