down payment

noun

: a part of the full price paid at the time of purchase or delivery with the balance to be paid later

broadly : the first step in a process

Examples of down payment in a Sentence

She made a 10 percent down payment on the car.

We put a down payment on the house.

Recent Examples on the Web

That’s compared to 12-13 years to accumulate $100,000 in equity when paying off a 30-year mortgage, excluding the down payment. —Dave Smith, Fortune, 11 Nov. 2025

For instance, a $200,000 home with a 5% down payment would have a $1976 monthly payment on a 15-year mortgage at a 5% interest rate, according to Fannie Mae's Mortgage Calculator. —Michael Nied, PEOPLE, 11 Nov. 2025

With a larger down payment, a buyer may be able to afford the monthly payments on a shorter-term loan. —Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 11 Nov. 2025

Even the evening before budget adoption, work was being done to negotiate finances and find a sustainable funding source that both council members, including Dimitrijevic, and the mayor's office agreed on for the city's down payment assistance program. —Vanessa Swales, jsonline.com, 7 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1854, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for down payment

• copayment
• embayment
• nonpayment
• prepayment
• repayment
• claimant
• overpayment
• underpayment

Kids Definition

down payment

noun

: a part of the full price paid at the time of purchase or delivery with the remainder to be paid later