owing
- owed, unpaid, or due for payment: to pay what is owing.
- 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
owe
- 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.
- to be in debt: Neither lend nor owe. Who owes for the antipasto?
Origin of owe
Examples from the Web for owing
Contemporary Examples
Owing to its popularity as a pet, it has spread across the Pacific to China.
But owing to another experimental vaccine he received, its impossible to say whether the blood is what saved him.
Bloody as it is, Penny Dreadful is also rather beautiful, owing to some spectacular set design and spot-on horror imagery.
Owing to a citizen protest, which moved the issue to district court, the vote has been postponed to April 2014.
The Soviets stopped setting off nukes at Nova Zembla after that, owing to international pressure.
Historical Examples
Made rather a late start, owing to some of the horses straying.
Explorations in AustraliaJohn Forrest
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 ManRichard B. Cook
The office had been closed, owing to a death, and Palmer was in possession of a holiday.
KMary Roberts Rinehart
The Causses, owing to their isolated position, may be said to have escaped a history.
The Roof of FranceMatilda Betham-Edwards
owing
- (postpositive) owed; due
- owing to (preposition) because of or on account of
owe
- 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
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.).