Loan vs. Lend: Usage Guide
The verb loan is one of the words English settlers brought to America and continued to use after it had died out in Britain. Its use was soon noticed by British visitors and somewhat later by the New England literati, who considered it a bit provincial. It was flatly declared wrong in 1870 by a popular commentator, who based his objection on etymology. A later scholar showed that the commentator was ignorant of Old English and thus unsound in his objection, but by then it was too late, as the condemnation had been picked up by many other commentators. Although a surprising number of critics still voice objections, loan is entirely standard as a verb. You should note that it is used only literally; lend is the verb used for figurative expressions, such as "lending a hand" or "lending enchantment."
Synonyms
Examples of loan in a Sentence
Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 4 Apr. 2024
Hankey also owns North Hollywood Toyota and has long diversified beyond making subprime vehicle loans.
—Laurence Darmiento, Los Angeles Times, 3 Apr. 2024
For example, Verity Credit Union in Washington state saw major rises in loan approvals for Black Americans (177%), people over 62 years old (271%), and AAPIs (375%).
—Laura Bratton, Quartz, 2 Apr. 2024
People affected by the storms can register with FEMA for federal assistance and disaster loans through April 19.
—Emily Alvarenga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 Apr. 2024
The loan requests were for a total of $253,865; of that amount, Tollinchi received about $142,000 and her parents the balance, according to the indictment.
—Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 2 Apr. 2024
Liron was an early investor in LendingClub, a peer-to-peer lending platform that established itself as a pioneer in unsecured loans.
—Ariane Lange, Sacramento Bee, 1 Apr. 2024
Trump cannot sell his shares or use them as collateral for a loan for six months because of a provision in the company’s merger agreement, known as a lockup.
—Drew Harwell, Washington Post, 1 Apr. 2024
Prosecutors called attention to a €560 million vendor loan that Elliott gave RedBird at an 8% interest to fund its acquisition of the club, according to documents viewed by Fortune.
—Paolo Confino, Fortune, 30 Mar. 2024
Matt Egan, CNN, 2 Apr. 2024
The dress was loaned to Kardashian by Ripley’s Believe It or Not, and the decision was immediately met with backlash from outraged fans who claimed Kardashian damaged the garment by pulling and wearing down seams.
—Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
Hollywood memorabilia collector Michael Shaw had loaned the pair to the museum before Martin stole them.
—Steve Karnowski, Fortune, 18 Mar. 2024
Since Sony loaned Spider-Man as a character to Marvel Studios for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sony is left making movies about characters on the sidelines — like Madame Web.
—Elahe Izadi, Washington Post, 19 Feb. 2024
Concrete business owner David Taylor has loaned his own campaign $1.7 million, while Larry Kidd, who owns a hiring agency, has invested $1.3 million in the race.
—Nathaniel Rakich, ABC News, 18 Mar. 2024
Shaw loaned them in 2005 to the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
—Steve Karnowski and Jim Salter, USA TODAY, 18 Mar. 2024
During Blau’s tenure, the state attorney general had investigated Integral, ultimately accusing it in 2015 of improperly loaning its executives hundreds of thousands of dollars while wards sat unnecessarily in nursing homes.
—Jake Pearson, ProPublica, 12 Mar. 2024
The former mayor has been known to be a prolific fundraiser — and, unlike either of his likely competitors, has not loaned his campaign any money.
—Grace Hase, The Mercury News, 7 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'loan.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Noun
Middle English lone "something lent or owing, divine gift," borrowed from Old Norse lán "something lent, fief," going back to Germanic *laihna- "something granted or lent" (whence also Old Frisian lēn "fief, benefice, something lent," Old Saxon lēhan "gift, fief," Old High German lēhan, lēn "something lent, feudal tenure, benefice," and, from a variant *laihni-, Old English lǣn "something lent, grant, gift"), noun derivative from the verb *līhwan- "to grant, lend" — more at delinquent entry 2
Note: Germanic *laihna- appears directly comparable with the Indo-Iranian s-stem represented by Vedic Sanskrit rékṇaḥ "inheritance, property," Avestan raēxənah- "inheritance," though it is uncertain if the Germanic word can also be derived from an s-stem. See note at delinquent entry 2.
Verb
derivative of loan entry 1
Noun
12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Verb
circa 1543, in the meaning defined above
Phrases Containing loan
Dictionary Entries Near loan
Cite this Entry
“Loan.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/loan. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
loan
1 of 2 nounloan
2 of 2 verb
Legal Definition
loan
nouncalled also equity loan, home equity line, home equity line of credit
see also qualified residence interest at interest sense 5
More from Merriam-Webster on loan
Nglish: Translation of loan for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of loan for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about loan
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