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definitions

owing

[oh-ing]
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adjective

owed, unpaid, or due for payment: to pay what is owing.

Idioms

    owing to, because of; as a result of: Owing to a mistake in the payroll department, some of us were issued incorrect checks.

Origin of owing

Middle English word dating back to 1325–75; see origin at owe, -ing2
Related formsun·ow·ing, adjective

owe

[oh]

verb (used with object), owed, ow·ing.

to be under obligation to pay or repay: to owe money to the bank; to owe the bank interest on a mortgage.
to be in debt to: He says he doesn't owe anybody.
to be indebted (to) as the cause or source of: to owe one's fame to good fortune.
to have or bear (a feeling or attitude) toward someone or something: to owe gratitude to one's rescuers.
Obsolete. to possess; own.

verb (used without object), owed, ow·ing.

to be in debt: Neither lend nor owe. Who owes for the antipasto?

Origin of owe

before 900; Middle English owen to possess, be under obligation, have to pay; Old English āgan to possess; cognate with Old High German eigan, Old Norse eiga. See own, ought1
Can be confusedO oh oweode owed
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for owing

owed, matured, mature, unsettled, comeuppance, due, outstanding, overdue, payable, attributable

Examples from the Web for owing

Contemporary Examples of owing

Historical Examples of owing

  • Made rather a late start, owing to some of the horses straying.

  • But, if I do not ask, they may allege, that my not going is owing to myself.

    Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)

    Samuel Richardson

  • It was unfortunate as to time, owing to the condition of affairs in Italy.

    The Grand Old Man

    Richard B. Cook

  • The office had been closed, owing to a death, and Palmer was in possession of a holiday.

    K

    Mary Roberts Rinehart

  • The Causses, owing to their isolated position, may be said to have escaped a history.

    The Roof of France

    Matilda Betham-Edwards

British Dictionary definitions for owing

owing

adjective

(postpositive) owed; due
owing to (preposition) because of or on account of

owe

verb (mainly tr)

to be under an obligation to pay (someone) to the amount of
(intr) to be in debthe still owes for his house
(often foll by to) to have as a result (of)he owes his success to chance
to feel the need or obligation to do, give, etcto owe somebody thanks; to owe it to oneself to rest
to hold or maintain in the mind or heart (esp in the phrase owe a grudge)

Word Origin for owe

Old English āgan to have (C12: to have to); related to Old Saxon ēgan, Old High German eigan
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
Word Origin and History for owing

owe

v.

Old English agan (past tense ahte) "to have, own," from Proto-Germanic *aiganan "to possess" (cf. Old Frisian aga, Old Norse eiga, Old High German eigan, Gothic aigan "to possess, have"), from PIE *aik- "to be master of, possess" (cf. Sanskrit ise "he owns," isah "owner, lord, ruler;" Avestan is- "riches," isvan- "well-off, rich").

Sense of "to have to repay" began in late Old English with the phrase agan to geldanne literally "to own to yield," which was used to translate Latin debere (earlier in Old English this would have been sceal "shall"); by late 12c. the phrase had been shortened to simply agan, and own (v.) took over this word's original sense.

An original Germanic preterite-present verb (cf. can, dare, may, etc.). New past tense form owed arose 15c. to replace oughte, which developed into ought (v.).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper