loan
1 Americannoun
-
the act of lending; a grant of the temporary use of something.
the loan of a book.
-
something lent or furnished on condition of being returned, especially a sum of money lent at interest.
a $1000 loan at 10 percent interest.
verb (used with object)
-
loans,
present (3rd person singular)
-
loaned,
past participle, past
-
loaning
present participle
-
to make a loan of; lend.
Will you loan me your umbrella?
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to lend (money) at interest.
verb (used without object)
-
loans,
present (3rd person singular)
-
loaned,
past participle, past
-
loaning
present participle
idioms
noun
-
a country lane; secondary road.
-
an uncultivated plot of farmland, usually used for milking cows.
noun
-
the act of lending
the loan of a car
-
-
property lent, esp money lent at interest for a period of time
-
( as modifier )
loan holder
-
-
the adoption by speakers of one language of a form current in another language
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short for loan word
-
-
lent out; borrowed
-
(esp of personnel) transferred from a regular post to a temporary one elsewhere
-
verb
noun
-
a lane
-
a place where cows are milked
Usage
Sometimes mistakenly identified as an Americanism, loan1 as a verb meaning “to lend” has been used in English for nearly 800 years: Nearby villages loaned clothing and other supplies to the flood-ravaged town. The occasional objections to loan as a verb referring to things other than money, are comparatively recent. Loan is standard in all contexts but is perhaps most common in financial ones: The government has loaned money to farmers to purchase seed.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
loansimple
-
loanssimple
-
have loanedperfect
-
has loanedperfect
-
am loaningprogressive
-
are loaningprogressive
-
is loaningprogressive
-
have been loaningperfect progressive
-
has been loaningperfect progressive
Past
-
loanedsimple
-
had loanedperfect
-
was loaningprogressive
-
were loaningprogressive
-
had been loaningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of loan1
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English noun lon(e), lan(e), Old English lān, from Old Norse lān; replacing its cognate, Old English lǣn “loan, grant,” cognate with Dutch leen “loan,” German Leh(e)n “fief”; cf. lend
Origin of loan2
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English lane, lone, Old English lane, lane 1
Explanation
If you want to buy a car but don't have money, you'll need a loan: a sum of money given temporarily that must be repaid, often with interest, or an added percentage on top the original sum. You can loan money or objects. If you loan someone your car, make sure he's a good driver. You might loan your friend a sweatshirt if she's cold and doesn't have one. Expect to get both your car and your sweatshirt back. A word that is borrowed from another language is called a loanword, like the word karaoke, which is Japanese.
Vocabulary lists containing loan
Commonly Confused Words, List 1
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Achievement First 5th Grade IA 1 Words
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The Great Depression and The New Deal
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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:
With no European football this campaign, new boss Xabi Alonso is keen to significantly reduce his squad - with a number of players either available for sale or on loan.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
The Mexican forward arrives on loan from San Diego FC through December with an option to buy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
If you have excellent credit, now could be the time to refinance your auto loan.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Disasi and Badiashile are available for sale, while Mamadou Sarr is expected to depart on loan.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
In the end, Clinton prevailed on the World Bank to give Russia a loan.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
UOB’s nonperforming asset formation was at 1% of its loans, which is similar to the levels during 3Q 2025 when UOB booked pre-emptive general provisions, he says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
By pushing up the cost of borrowing for things such as mortgages, loans and credit cards, central bankers hope consumers will spend less and the rate of price increases will slow.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
Net interest income—the difference between what banks earn on loans minus what they pay out on deposits—was flat at 2.06 billion euros.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
The BDC focuses on originating loans and investing in the private-debt securities of midsize companies that are current on their debt obligations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
Eisman was already betting against the shares of companies, such as New Century and IndyMac Bank, which originated subprime loans, along with companies that built the houses bought with the loans, such as Toll Brothers.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Chen said Bo, Panshi and another associate had loaned more than $2 million to the developers of an apartment complex, prompting lawsuits over unpaid debts and control of the property.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
It piled up dollars selling Americans cars and gadgets, then loaned those dollars right back by buying U.S.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Under the proposed terms of the deal, £1m would be loaned to a firm controlled by the prince, which would then be bound to do business exclusively with Cantor Fitzgerald.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
Shares will be loaned by Hertz to J.P.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
“Come with me.”Werfel fetched a fancy court hat and a hood lined with the white fur of the arctic serpent and loaned it to Spurge.
From "The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge" by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin
The former head of the national history museum in Bucharest, Ernest Oberländer-Târnoveanu, faced considerable domestic criticism for loaning the gold objects abroad and lost his job within days of the theft.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
The deal would involve the U.S. government loaning as much as $500 million to Spirit, and receiving warrants to take a stake in the low-cost carrier in return, the Journal said.
From Barron's ● Apr. 22, 2026
The documents describe an elaborate hoax in which the defendants allegedly created fake companies and fraudulent email accounts and driver’s licenses to help fool lenders into loaning them huge sums of money.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2026
You would likely not see any money you gave him, so even loaning him money would merely start a bad habit that could be hard to break.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 21, 2026
So she started loaning out money—a loan shark.
From "American Street" by Ibi Zoboi
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.
