Polonius: “Neither a borrower nor a lender be…
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.”– Shakespeare, Hamlet Act 1, scene 3, 75–77
I borrowed more trouble than I bargained for in exploring the word confusion that is borrow vs. lend vs. loan. So, lend me your ears as I expound upon this confusion and loan me a moment of your time.
When you borrow, you get the temporary use of money or a movable object from someone.
When you lend something to someone, you allow them the temporary use of a movable object, NOT money (in general).
When you loan something to someone, you allow them the temporary use of money.
And oh, brother. It just goes to show how flexible language is as words, their usage, their spellings, and more goes in and out of fashion, borrowing from other cultures while loaning words of its own to yet other cultures.
My father-in-law and I used to get into discussions about words, words that were common during Shakespeare’s day that Americans still use but that had been forgotten by the English. Words that sailed back and forth across the ocean, changing their spellings.
It’s a fascinating conundrum for those who adore words, and frustrating for writers, lol, for loving words as a single entity is not the same as loving to use words.
To Negate the Above . . .
Naturally, there’s a dispute about lend versus loan. A dispute that claims lend is preferred for the verb form while loan should only be used as a noun.
A number of dictionaries deny that this is an issue:
- The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition: “[t]he verb loan is well established in American usage and cannot be considered incorrect” p 80.
- Merriam-Webster: “…loan is entirely standard as a verb” p 81.
- Random House: “Sometimes mistakenly identified as an Americanism, loan as a verb meaning to lend has been used in English for nearly 800 years”; it further states that objections to this use “are comparatively recent” p 82.
- Chambers defines the verb loan as to lend (especially money) p 83.
| Undisputed Usage | Disputed Usage |
|---|---|
| I lent him some money. | I loaned him some money. |
| Fill out the paperwork for a loan. |
I’m including this dispute simply so you are aware of the issue.
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
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| Borrow | Lend | Loan |
|---|---|---|
.jpg "Pencil sketch of gentleman hurrying with two umbrellas toward two ladies.") — |
 |
 |
| Part of Grammar: | ||
| Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive
Plural for the noun: borrows Third person present verb: borrows |
Verb, intransitive & transitive
Third person present verb: lends |
Noun 1, 2; Verb 1, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: loans Third person present verb: loans |
| You borrow FROM
Noun: [Golf] A deviation of a ball from a straight path because of the slope of the ground [Civil Engineering] Material dug from a borrow pit to provide fill at another Living on borrowed time
Verb, intransitive: [Nautical] To sail close to the wind
[Nautical] To sail close to the shore [Golf] To putt on other than a direct line from the lie of the ball to the hole, to compensate for the incline or roll of the green Verb, transitive: To use, appropriate, or introduce from another source or from a foreign source [Arithmetic; in subtraction] To take from one denomination and add to the next lower |
You lend objects TO
Verb, intransitive: Allow a person or organization the use of a sum of money under an agreement to pay it back later, typically with interest
Verb, transitive:
Contribute or add (something, especially a quality) to [lend oneself to] Accommodate or adapt oneself to [Of a thing; lend itself to] Be suitable for |
You lend money (if a verb) TO
Noun: The act of lending 1
Something lent or furnished on condition of being returned, especially a sum of money lent at interest Short for loanword The temporary duty of a person transferred to another job for a limited time [Scottish; usually in place names] A lane or narrow path, especially one leading to open ground 2
Verb, intransitive:
Verb, transitive: To give money on condition that it is returned and that interest is paid for its temporary use
To lend (money) at interest Borrow (a sum of money or item of property) |
| Examples: | ||
| Noun: He made a left borrow. One frequently sees abandoned borrow pits where material has been removed to build embankments or overpasses. He’s living on borrowed time. “The Brotherhood agreed, and I was expelled: living on borrowed time, I knew, because of the secrets I’d learned” (Pritchard). Verb, intransitive: These gloves, another borrow from the Laser class, have an astonishing “grippiness” to them (Sail Nut). [Nautical] To sail close to the wind [Nautical] To sail close to the shore The book borrows heavily from Nietzsche. Verb, transitive: I borrowed your good idea. Could I borrow your car? I borrowed this book from the library. English is constantly borrowing words from other languages. Borrow a 1 from the 3 and make it 4. |
Verb, intransitive: The bank lends only to its current customers. “If you need stuff, skills, or spaces, there are communities waiting to lend, rent, or give” (Mac). “They match people wanting money with others who have money to lend” (Farnham). Verb, transitive: The building should lend itself to inexpensive remodeling. Distance lends enchantment to the view. Hey, can you lend me a hand with this? Stewart asked me to lend him my car. We would lend the pictures to each museum in turn. No one would lend him the money. The smile lent his face a boyish charm. John stiffly lent himself to her enthusiastic embraces. Bay windows lend themselves to blinds. |
Noun: George gave me the loan of a book. We got a loan for the house. We can loan you Simmons from accounting. Borrowers can take out a loan for $84,000 at ten percent interest. She offered to buy him dinner in return for the loan of the car. Who’s the loan holder? Just follow down Whitehouse Loan. You can’t miss it. Bring those cows in from the loan. Verb, intransitive: I have over fifteen books on loan from the library. It’s on loan. Verb, transitive: Paul loaned Jimmi the money to buy a guitar. Jenny loaned George $50. Will you loan me your screwdriver? The bank can loan him the money at five-percent interest. The word processor was loaned to us by the theater. He knew Rob would not loan him money. Mary Ellen loaned me her bike for the weekend. Nearby villages loaned clothing and other supplies to the flood-ravaged town. |
| Derivatives: | ||
| Adjective: borrowable, nonborrowed Noun: borrower, nonborrower Verb: overborrow |
Adjective: lendable Noun: lender, lending Verb: interlend, interlent, interlending, overlend, overlent, overlending, relend, relent, relending |
Adjective: loanable, unloaning Noun: loanee, loaner, loaning, unloaned |
| History of the Word: | ||
| The first known use was before 900.
Old English borgian meaning to borrow, lend, and derivative of and akin to the Dutch borg meaning a pledge also the Dutch borgen meaning to charge, give credit, the German Borg meaning credit, borgen meaning to take on credit. Middle English borowen. |
The first known use was before 900.
Middle English lenden, a variant — and originally the past tense — of lenen, Old English lǣnan (related to the Dutch lenen, the German lehnen, the Old Norse lāna), derivative of lǣn meaning loan. It’s related to Lehnen, the Old Norse lān. |
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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for Borrow vs Lend vs Loan
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Apple Dictionary.com
Cudoo. “Something Borrowed — English Words with Foreign Origins.” Languages & Culture. Cudoo. 15 Dec 2016. Web. 26 Oct 2022. <https://cudoo.com/blog/something-borrowed-english-words-with-foreign-origins/>.
Dictionary.com: borrow, lend, loan
Farnham, Alan. “New Ways to Get a Loan Without Going to the Bank.” ABC News. 5 Jan 2011. Web. 26 Oct 2022. <https://abcnews.go.com/Business/online-peer-peer-loans-benefit-borrowers-lenders/story?id=12547398>.
The Free Dictionary: borrow
“Lose the Cleat.” Sailnut.com. n.d. Web. n.d. <http://www.sailnut.com/sites/default/files/losethecleat.pdf>.
Mac, Amber. “5 of the Best and Worst Social Networking Trends for 2014.” Fast Company. 14 Jan 2014. Web. 26 Oct 2022. <https://www.fastcompany.com/3024607/5-of-the-best-and-worst-social-networking-trends-for-2014>.
Merriam-Webster: borrow
Pritchard, John. Night Sisters. HarperCollins, 1993. <https://amzn.to/3fcVXB5>. Print.
Pinterest Photo Credits
Walking in the Rain is in the public domain, via PickPik.
Revised as of 6 Apr 2024
By: Kathy Davie