Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

down payment

or down-pay·ment

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.
Show More

Origin of down payment

First recorded in 1925–30
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for downpayment

Contemporary Examples

British Dictionary definitions for downpayment

down payment

noun
  1. the deposit paid on an item purchased on hire-purchase, mortgage, etc
Show More
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
downpayment in Culture

down payment

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

Show More
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.