repay

verb re·pay \ (ˌ)rē-ˈpā \

Updated on: 20 Apr 2018

Definition of repay

repaid play \(ˌ)rē-ˈpād\; repaying

transitive verb

1 a : to pay back

repay a loan

b : to give or inflict in return or requital

repay evil for evil

2 : to make a return payment to : compensate, requite

3 : to make requital for : recompense

the success that repays hard work

intransitive verb

: to make return payment or requital

—

repayable

play \(ˌ)rē-ˈpā-ə-bəl\ adjective

—

repayment

play \(ˌ)rē-ˈpā-mənt\ noun

See repay defined for English-language learners

See repay defined for kids

Examples of repay in a Sentence

You can repay the mortgage over 30 years.
She would rather have to repay the bank than borrow from her parents and have to repay them.
How can I ever repay your kindness?
How can I ever repay you for your kindness?

Recent Examples of repay from the Web

Daniel Glick, 65, of Chicago, stole $5.2 million from clients and used some of the money he had been entrusted to invest to buy a Mercedes-Benz, repay business loans and make payments on his mortgage, according to prosecutors.

— mike nolan, Daily Southtown, "12-year sentence for investment adviser who scammed clients, including his elderly in-laws, feds say," 17 Apr. 2018
Costs will be repaid with Issue 4 funds over a period of 20 years.

— brittany nader, cleveland.com, "City of Akron unveils plans for construction of new Fire Station 4, future development of former station," 13 Apr. 2018
The deal is the latest in the Fortis saga after the founders, Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh, were unable to repay loans and lost shares put up as collateral.

— george smith alexander, Bloomberg.com, "TPG-Backed Firm Sweetens Bid for India's No. 2 Hospital Chain," 10 Apr. 2018
The entire project is expected to cost up to $70 million and will be paid for by city money Lee earmarked, low-income housing tax credits and a bank loan to be repaid with rents from the educators who eventually move in.

— heather knight, San Francisco Chronicle, "Teacher housing in San Francisco may be more than just a passing fancy," 10 Apr. 2018
They will be repaid with the project’s property taxes deferred from city coffers.

— meredith cohn, baltimoresun.com, "New Port Covington buildings, bond sale on the drawing board," 3 Apr. 2018
The brighter results are a relief from several tough years when the economy flagged, borrowers struggled to repay loans and a series of benchmark interest-rate cuts ate into banks’ profits.

— WSJ, "Growth Bounces Back for Year at China’s Largest Banks," 29 Mar. 2018
But instead, these companies have become burdened with debt that cannot be repaid, while revenue has (at best) stagnated.

— alex shephard, The New Republic, "The Real Retail Killer," 28 Mar. 2018
For now, officials would settle for enough revenue to cover the running costs and repay the loans.

— The Economist, "Loans, trains and automobilesDid Kenya get a loan to build a railway, or vice versa?," 22 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'repay.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of repay

15th century

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

See Words from the same year

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repay Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of repay

pay, compensate, remunerate, satisfy, reimburse, indemnify, repay, recompense mean to give money or its equivalent in return for something. pay implies the discharge of an obligation incurred.

- paid their bills

compensate implies a making up for services rendered.

- an attorney well compensated for her services

remunerate clearly suggests paying for services rendered and may extend to payment that is generous or not contracted for.

- promised to remunerate the searchers handsomely

satisfy implies paying a person what is required by law.

- all creditors will be satisfied in full

reimburse implies a return of money that has been spent for another's benefit.

- reimbursed employees for expenses

indemnify implies making good a loss suffered through accident, disaster, warfare.

- indemnified the families of the dead miners

repay stresses paying back an equivalent in kind or amount.

- repay a favor with a favor

recompense suggests due return in amends, friendly repayment, or reward.

- passengers were recompensed for the delay

Financial Definition of REPAY

repayment

noun

What It Is

Repayment usually refers to the payments on a debt.

How It Works

Under the terms of a loan, repayment can have different schedules and requirements. For example, a loan may be amortized over a specific period of time, requiring regular repayments. The repayments would be divided between the interest (i.e. the interest on the outstanding loan amount) and the principal repayment (i.e. the remaining amount of the periodic payment that is used to reduce the outstanding loan amount). At the same time, a loan term may be amortized over a longer period of time than the due date on the loan. In this case, a loan will require a "balloon repayment" (i.e. the amount of principal not yet repaid will be due in full at the end of the term). In either case, all payments on the loan are called repayments.

Why It Matters

For both a borrower and a lender, the breakdown of repayments into principal and interest are very important. For a business, the interest portion of the repayment on a business loan is tax deductible. The principal is not. For a lender, the interest portion of the repayment is treated as income. The principal is not.

Source: Investing Answers

REPAY Defined for English Language Learners

repay

verb

Definition of repay for English Language Learners

: to pay back (money that you have borrowed)
: to make a payment to (a person or organization that has loaned you money)
: to do or give something in return for (something) : to provide something in return for (work, effort, etc.)