borrow

borrow
\ \ [OE] Modern English borrow is a descendant of Old English borgian, which came from the Germanic base *borg-. This was a variant of *berg- (source of English barrowmound’) and *burg- (source of English borough and bury). The underlying sense of the Germanic base was ‘protection, shelter’, and the development of meaning in the case of borrow seems to have been like this: originally, to borrow something from somebody was to receive it temporarily from them in return for some sort of security, which would be forfeited if the thing borrowed were not kept safe and eventually returned. Gradually, the notion of giving some sort of concrete security, such as money, weakened into a spoken pledge, which by modern times had become simply the unspoken assumption that anything that has been borrowed must by definition be returned.
\ \ Cf.BARROW, BOROUGH, BURY

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Borrow — or borrowing can mean: to receive (something) from somebody temporarily, expecting to return it. *In finance, monetary debt *In language, the use of loanwords *In arithmetic, when a digit become smaller than limit and the deficiency is taken from …   Wikipedia

  • Borrow — Bor row, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Borrowed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Borrowing}.] [OE. borwen, AS. borgian, fr. borg, borh, pledge; akin to D. borg, G. borg; prob. fr. root of AS. beorgan to protect. ?95. See 1st {Borough}.] 1. To receive from another as a… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • borrow — [bär′ō, bôr′ō] vt., vi. [ME borwen < OE borgian, to borrow, lend, be surety for, akin to beorgan, to protect & BOROUGH] 1. to take or receive (something) with the understanding that one will return it or an equivalent 2. to adopt or take over… …   English World dictionary

  • borrow — bor·row vt: to take or receive temporarily; specif: to receive (money) with the intention of returning the same plus interest bor·row·er n Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996. borrow …   Law dictionary

  • borrow — O.E. borgian to lend, be surety for, from P.Gmc. *borg pledge, from PIE *bhergh to hide, protect (see BURY (Cf. bury)). Sense shifted in O.E. to borrow, apparently on the notion of collateral deposited as security for something borrowed. Cf. O.E …   Etymology dictionary

  • Borrow — Bor row, n. 1. Something deposited as security; a pledge; a surety; a hostage. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] Ye may retain as borrows my two priests. Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster] 2. The act of borrowing. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] Of your royal presence I ll… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • borrow — [v1] take for temporary use accept loan of, acquire, beg, bite, bum, cadge*, chisel*, give a note for*, hire, hit up*, lift, mooch*, negotiate, obtain, pawn, pledge, raise money, rent, run into debt, scrounge, see one’s uncle*, soak, sponge, take …   New thesaurus

  • Borrow — Borrow, Georg, geb. um 1805 in Norfolk, durchreiste als Agent der englischen Bibelgesellschaft den größten Theil Europas u. NAfrikas. Einen Hauptgegenstand seines Studiums bildeten die Zigeuner, unter denen er in seiner Jugend eine Zeit lang… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Borrow — (spr bórro), George, engl. Schriftsteller, geb. 17. Juli 1803 zu East Dereham in Norfolk, gest. 29. Juli 1881 in Oulton bei Lowestoft, war der Sohn eines Offiziers, führte in der Jugend ein Wanderleben ohne Unterricht, sogar eine Zeitlang unter… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Borrow — (Barre), Georg, geb. 1805 in Norfolk, soll als Kind unter den Zigeunern gelebt haben, durchreiste später als Agent der engl. Bibelgesellschaft Europa und einen Theil Afrikas, beschrieb das Zigeunerleben und seine eigenen Erlebnisse, viel Dichtung …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • borrow — ► VERB 1) take and use (something belonging to someone else) with the intention of returning it. 2) take and use (money) from a person or bank under agreement to pay it back later. ● be (living) on borrowed time Cf. ↑be on borrowed time… …   English terms dictionary

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