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:
With loan growth remaining healthy, cost controls and manageable bad-loan provisions should also support earnings, he adds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
They then repay that loan, which is outlined in a formal agreement.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2026
Mortgage loan officer Jon Bonck will succeed Hunt in the safely red 38th District.
From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2026
"They ended last season quite well to get into Europe and that felt really historic," former Sunderland loan signing Nedum Onuoha told BBC Sport.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
As soon as Elizebeth finished college, she had to start repaying the loan from her father.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
The cost of some other new loans could be influenced by the Bank rate.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
The down payment help will be in the form of loans, and coupon payments funded by the loan interest are expected to pay back bond investors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026
I have two adult sons who have completed college, and I am entirely debt-free, with no mortgage, auto loans or other outstanding obligations.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 4, 2026
Roberts says when he reviews a BDC, he looks at the types of businesses they invest in, the sectors and how much of the loans are collateralized.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026
And then—because it could not extend home loans fast enough to create a sufficient number of lower-rated bonds—it used credit default swaps to replicate the very worst of the existing bonds, many times over.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
The Mississippi native, who lives in an antebellum-style mansion in a tiny and heavily white community east of Memphis, has loaned his congressional campaign $1.5 million.
From Salon ● Oct. 28, 2026
It says the King has "loaned" Andrew the £1.5m sum, and notes that the former prince formerly surrendered his 75-year lease earlier this week.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
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
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
Perhaps El Patron had loaned him to Celia and would someday want him back.
From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer
BBC Sport reported City's interest in Bouaddi in June and, contrary to reports, sources said signing him and then loaning back to Lille for a season was not on the agenda.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
The Dutch institution is frequently visited by enthusiastic Japanese fans, and other nations like China, Singapore and South Korea also have asked about loaning it, she said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 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
The closure – long planned – is what gave Macron the opportunity to perform his act of cultural diplomacy, committing France to loaning the tapestry to the British Museum for a year from next September.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2025
So she started loaning out money—a loan shark.
From "American Street" by Ibi Zoboi
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
