usury

[ yoo-zhuh-ree ]

/ ˈyu ʒə ri /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR usury ON THESAURUS.COM

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.

RELATED WORDS

exploitation, stealing

Nearby words

usumbura, usurer, usurious, usurp, usurpation, usury, usw, usward, ut, ut dict., ut infra

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for usury

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
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
If I had kept thirteen pence out of his fare, the odd penny would have been usury.
On the Old Road, Vol. 2 (of 2)|John Ruskin

Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee.
The Right and Wrong Uses of the Bible|R. Heber Newton
This can be accomplished largely, if not completely, by the abolition of usury.
Usury|Calvin Elliott
Despoiled by herself, no avenger to wipe out the stigma Twin maelstroms of debt and of usury suck down the commons.
The Satyricon, Complete|Petronius Arbiter
He does not more than refer to usury; he does not even mention it by name.
Usury|Calvin Elliott

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

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

Culture definitions for usury

usury

[ (yooh-zhuh-ree) ]

The practice of charging more than the legal interest rate.