usance

[yoo-zuh ns]

See more synonyms for usance on Thesaurus.com

noun

Commerce. a length of time, exclusive of days of grace and varying in different places, allowed by custom or usage for the payment of foreign bills of exchange.
Economics. the income of benefits of every kind derived from the ownership of wealth.
Archaic.
1. use.
2. custom; habit.

Obsolete. usury.

Origin of usance

1350–1400; Middle English usaunce < Old French usance, probably < Medieval Latin ūsantia, derivative of Latin ūsant- (stem of ūsāns), present participle of ūsāre to use; see -ance

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for usance

fashion, observance, habit, manner, shot, use, way, routine, usage, swim, form, hang-up, practice, consuetude, habitude, wont, characteristic, rule, grind, trick

Examples from the Web for usance

Historical Examples of usance

I'll lend no money gratis and bring down the rate of usance.
A Forest Hearth: A Romance of Indiana in the Thirties
Charles Major
But 'tis to much purpose to evade it; the common custom and usance of life will have it so.
The Essays of Montaigne, Complete
Michel de Montaigne
He lends out money gratis, and brings down The rate of usance here with us in Venice.
William Shakespere, of Stratford-on-Avon
Scott Surtees
The term "usance" is sometimes employed to express the period of running in foreign bills.
The Gentleman's Model Letter-writer
Anonymous
He knew that a debt to folly bears no grace, and was ready with his principal and usance.
When Knighthood Was in Flower
Charles Major

British Dictionary definitions for usance

usance

noun

commerce the period of time permitted by commercial usage for the redemption of foreign bills of exchange
rare unearned income
an obsolete word for usage, usury, use

Word Origin for usance

C14: from Old French, from Medieval Latin ūsantia, from ūsāre to use

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