usury

[ yoo-zhuh-ree ]

/ ˈyu ʒə ri /

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Definition of usury

noun, plural u·su·ries.

the lending or practice of lending money at an exorbitant interest.

an exorbitant amount or rate of interest, especially in excess of the legal rate.

Obsolete. interest paid for the use of money.

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Origin of usury

1275–1325; Middle English usurie<Medieval Latin ūsūria (compare Latin ūsūra), equivalent to Latin ūs(us) (see use) + -ūr(a) -ure + -ia-y³

Words nearby usury

usurious, usurp, usurpation, usurped, usurper, usury, U.S.V., usw, usward, ut, uta

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use usury in a sentence

Those harms are numerous and varied, Del Río says, and can include practices like issuing loans with triple-digit interest rates because fintech companies are often unregulated by the usury laws banks must follow.
What the unbanked need from the 2020 election|McKenna Moore|September 30, 2020|Fortune
On January 29, Francis referred to usury as “a dramatic social ill.”
12 Ways Catholicism is More Radical Than Pope Francis|Nathan Schneider|February 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There's a reason for the biblical bans on usury: in a zero-growth world, lending money at interest is quite likely to ruin people.
Don't Have Enough to Worry About? Here's One More Thing: Low Growth May be Here to Stay.|Megan McArdle|March 4, 2013|DAILY BEAST
“But some in the West may think in the aftermath of the financial crisis, banning usury may be useful,” he muses.
Libyans Say Sharia Will Be Law of the Land|Jamie Dettmer|December 11, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Biblical and Islamic bans on "usury" (lending money at interest) strike most modern people as pretty silly.
Our Demographic Decline|Megan McArdle|December 4, 2012|DAILY BEAST
For usury and lending upon interest were forbidden by the Church, but trafficking was lawful and permitted.
The Merrie Tales Of Jacques Tournebroche|Anatole France
She wanted to pay him with usury for his cool, hard disdain.
The Highgrader|William MacLeod Raine
Addition and multiplication were his favourite rules, and usury was the foundation of his good deeds.
Portraits of Curious Characters in London, &c. &c.|Anonymous
Mole-eyes grow hawk's: knowledge is lent In grudging driblets that pay high Unconscionable usury To unrelenting life.
The Burning Wheel|Aldous Huxley
He invested in the traffic of usury what had sufficed to save a hundred such as I am from perdition, and he lost it all.
Night and Morning, Complete|Edward Bulwer-Lytton

British Dictionary definitions for usury

usury

/ (ˈjuːʒərɪ) /

noun plural -ries

the act or practice of loaning money at an exorbitant rate of interest

an exorbitant or unlawfully high amount or rate of interest

obsolete moneylending

Derived forms of usury

usurious (juːˈʒʊərɪəs), adjective

Word Origin for usury

C14: from Medieval Latin ūsūria, from Latin ūsūra usage, from ūsus 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

Cultural definitions for usury

usury

[ (yooh-zhuh-ree) ]

The practice of charging more than the legal interest rate.

usury

Definition of usury

Origin of usury

Words nearby usury

Words related to usury

How to use usury in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for usury

Derived forms of usury

Word Origin for usury

Cultural definitions for usury