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
-
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:
A short-term business loan can help keep your company operating smoothly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
“Grab likes the idea of using its combined data to improve both companies’ credit models, and scaling the foundational infrastructure across a much larger loan book,” Milliken says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
Roma were interested in the winger, but their loan offer did not suit Chelsea.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
For visitors Torino, Nathan Patterson made his second appearance as a substitute since his loan move from Everton as right-back continues to be a problem area for Scotland.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 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
CRE CLO loans are often structured with an initial three-year maturity, with two one-year extension options.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
Most of the recent rise in distress in the CRE CLO market is driven by loans that were issued in 2021, when property values were at all-time highs and borrowing costs were at all-time lows.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
This means many of the loans that were issued in 2021 are approaching their final maturity date.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
The delinquency rate for multifamily loans in commercial mortgage-backed securities jumped from 1% in October 2023 to 7.1% this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
In early 2002 he got his hands on Household’s new sales document offering home equity loans.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Trust companies, the original “shadow banks,” had loaned buckets of money to risky businesses, real-estate speculators and stock traders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
They have also sold, loaned out or released several former first-team players, including captain Cristian Romero, England international Djed Spence and Yves Bissouma.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
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
Grabbing a pile of art-supplies he had loaned Jeremy the week before, he stormed out of the room.
From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville
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
The scheme was intended to help those without access to money via friends and family by loaning them some of the funds for a house deposit and increasing mortgage availability.
From BBC ● Apr. 14, 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
“I’m just loaning you to her for a while,” she explained.
From "Dead End in Norvelt" by Jack Gantos
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.
