owe

owe - English

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA: /əʊ/
(US) enPR: ō, IPA: /oʊ/
Homophones: o, oh

Verb

owe (third-person singular simple present owes, present participle owing, simple past owed or (archaic) ought, past participle owed or (archaic) own)

(ditransitive) To be under an obligation to give something back to someone or to perform some action for someone.
- I owe Kevin five bucks which he lent to me last week.
- This time I'll cover for you, but now you owe me a favour.
(intransitive) To have debt; to be in debt.
(transitive) To have as a cause; used with to.
- The record owes its success to the outstanding guitar solos.

Usage notes

The original past tense form was ought, which during Middle English began to be used with indefinite signification and has become a distinct verb. The original past participle survives in the adjective own.

Derived terms

Translations

Belarusian: быць у абавя́зку impf (bycʹ u abavjázku), му́сіць impf (músicʹ), быць паві́нен impf (bycʹ pavínjen)
Bulgarian: задължен съм (zadǎlžen sǎm)
Catalan: deure (ca)
Dutch: schuldig zijn
Esperanto: ŝuldi
Finnish: olla velkaa
French: devoir (fr)
Galician: deber (gl)
German: schulden (de), schuldig sein
Gothic: 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌰𐌽 (skulan)
Greek: χρωστάω (el) (chrostáo), χρωστώ (el) (chrostó)
Hebrew: חב‎ (he) (khav), היה חייב‎ (hayá khayáv)
Ido: debar (io)
Irish: bí ar (with subject and object reversed)
Italian: dovere (it)
Latin: dēbeō (la)
Occitan: dever (oc)
Old English: sċulan
Persian: مدیون بودن‎ (fa) (madyun budan), بدهکار بودن‎ (bedehkâr budan)
Polish: być zobowiązany impf, zawdzięczać (pl) impf
Portuguese: dever (pt)
Romanian: datora (ro)
Russian: быть до́лжным impf (bytʹ dólžnym), быть обя́занным impf (bytʹ objázannym), быть в долгу́ impf (bytʹ v dolgú)
Slovene: dolgovati
Spanish: deber (es), adeudar (es)
Swedish: vara skyldig
Turkish: ^{(please verify)} Borçluluk, ^{(please verify)} müzayaka (tr)
Ukrainian: ви́нен m (výnen), ви́нна f (výnna), ви́нні m pl or f pl (výnni), бу́ти ви́нним impf (búty výnnym), му́сити (uk) impf (músyty), пови́нний (povýnnyj) (predicative)
Zazaki: deyndarey f

Belarusian: завінава́ціцца pf (zavinavácicca), запазы́чыцца pf (zapazýčycca), быць ў даўгу́ impf (bycʹ ŭ daŭhú)
Bulgarian: дължа (bg) (dǎlža)
Catalan: deure (ca)
Chinese:
- Cantonese: 欠 (him³)
- Mandarin: 欠 (zh) (qiàn), 欠債／欠债 (zh) (qiànzhài)
Czech: dlužit
Danish: skylde (da)
Dutch: schuldig zijn
Finnish: olla velkaa, olla veloissa
French: devoir (fr)
Galician: deber (gl)
German: schulden (de), schuldig sein
Gothic: 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌰𐌽 (skulan)
Greek:
- Ancient: ὀφείλω (opheílō)
Haitian Creole: dwe
Hebrew: היה חייב‎ (hayá khayáv)
Hungarian: tartozik (hu)
Irish: bí ar (with subject and object reversed)
Italian: dovere (it), essere in debito
Japanese: 借りがある (かりがある, kari ga aru), 負う (ja) (おう, ou)
Korean: 빚지고 있다 (bitjigo itda)
Latin: dēbeō (la)
Malay: berhutang
Norwegian: skylde
Occitan: dever (oc)
Persian: بدهکار بودن‎ (bedehkâr budan)
Polish: mieć dług, być winnym, winić (pl)
Portuguese: dever (pt)
Romanian: datora (ro)
Russian: (predicative) до́лжен (ru) m (dólžen), должна́ (ru) f (dolžná), должны́ (ru) pl (dolžný), быть до́лжным impf (bytʹ dólžnym), быть в долгу́ impf (bytʹ v dolgú), задолжа́ть (ru) pf (zadolžátʹ)
Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: дуго̀вати
- Roman: dugòvati (sh)
Slovene: dolgovati
Spanish: estar en deuda, deber (es), adeudar (es)
Swedish: vara skyldig
Turkish: borçlu olmak

Anagrams

owe - Avava

Noun

owe

water

owe - Bavarian

Alternative forms

owi, noi

Pronunciation

IPA: /ˈɔːβɛ/

Adverb

owe

(East-Central Bavarian) down (direction away from the speaker)
- Antonym: auffe

Usage notes

Bavarian adverbs of direction come in pairs: endings in -i or -e denote direction away from the speaker (akin to German hin), and endings in -a denote direction towards the speaker (akin to German her).

Related terms

owe - Middle English

Pronoun

owe

Alternative form of yow

owe - Polish

Pronunciation

IPA: /ˈɔ.vɛ/
Syllabification: o‧we

Pronoun

owe

nonvirile nominative/accusative/vocative plural of ów

owe - Yoruba

Alternative forms

òghe

Pronunciation

IPA: /ò.wē/

Noun

òwe

proverb, adage, saying