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

Nationally, 25% of first-time buyers used a gift or loan from family or friends toward their down payment, according to the National Association of Realtors’ 2026 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, released Thursday. — Sydney Lake, Fortune, 6 Nov. 2026

Qualified buyers can borrow up to 17% of the price of the home while contributing 3% of the down payment from their own funds. — Los Angeles Times, 4 Nov. 2026

Becerra has proposed cutting red tape to raise California's housing supply, increasing access to down payment assistance programs. — Richard Ramos, CBS News, 3 Nov. 2026

Several other lenders also offer down payment assistance to qualifying borrowers taking out conventional and FHA loans. — Kelsey Neubauer, CNBC, 3 Nov. 2026

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