noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of creditor
1400–50; late Middle English creditour < Latin crēditor, equivalent to crēdi- variant stem of crēdere to believe, entrust ( see credit) + -tor -tor
Explanation
If Joe loans you two dollars so you can buy a cup of coffee, Joe is your creditor — you owe him two dollars and a big thank you! If you have a credit card, the bank that issues it to you is your creditor. What they give you is not just a piece of plastic: rather it is a line of credit or a certain amount of money that they have agreed to loan you at fixed terms. Make sure you pay it off every month or you'll become a debtor!
Vocabulary lists containing creditor
Believe It or Not: Cred
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Personal Finance and Financial Literacy - Introductory
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cred
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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:
In person, the creditor said it broadly accepted her proposal for a debt restructuring, a breakthrough that gave Lynas breathing room.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
China is also the largest single bilateral creditor with Solomon Islands debt to Chinese banks for infrastructure projects doubling last year.
From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026
None of this guarantees that a creditor will actually succeed in reaching the trust.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 16, 2026
Virtus has also reached a deal for an undisclosed sum with Chemaf’s largest creditor, Trafigura, a commodity-trading giant based in Singapore and Switzerland, according to Powch, who is chief financial officer at Virtus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026
The salesman had told Hale that because he wasn’t Roan’s relative, he could become his beneficiary only if he were his creditor.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
In fact, estates with little or no money can sometimes be the most difficult to administer because debts, creditors and property issues still have to be addressed.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
The judge, Mr Justice Hildyard, had to decide if the restructuring was fair – whether creditors would be no worse off under than plan than if the retailer were to go into administration.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
From my understanding, I enroll with a company and they negotiate with all my creditors, while I just don’t pay the credit cards and let my credit take a hopefully short-term hit.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
They will increase borrowing costs for the countries that adopt them because creditors will seek compensation for accepting a higher risk of not receiving coupon payments.
From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026
Management was replaced, shareholders badly diluted, and creditors left intact but with some uncertainty.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
