From Middle English borwen, from Old English borgian (“to borrow, lend, pledge surety for”), from Proto-West Germanic *borgōn, from Proto-Germanic *burgōną (“to pledge, take care of”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰergʰ- (“to take care”).
Cognate with Dutch borgen (“to borrow, trust”), German borgen (“to borrow, lend”), Danish borge (“to vouch”). Related to Old English beorgan (“to save, preserve”). More at bury.
Meanings
(countable, uncountable) Deviation of the path of a rolling ball from a straight line; slope; slant.
The amount of borrow, as we term it, that must be taken from the side of any particular slope is entirely a matter of mathematical calculation, […] 1905, Harry Vardon, The Complete Golfer:
This putt has a big left-to right borrow on it.
[…] slippery contours, so that in making a side hill putt more than the usual amount of borrow had to be considered. 2020, George C. Thomas, Golf Architecture in America: Its Strategy and Construction:
(countable, uncountable) A borrow pit.
As previously indicated, slurry used for construction of the slurry cutoff trench at Beaver Creek Dam was produced with natural clays and clay tills from local borrows. 1979, The Canadian Mining and Metallurgical Bulletin:
(countable, uncountable) In Rust and some other programming languages, the situation where the ownership of a value is temporarily transferred to another region of code.
If we currently have any borrows of a value, we can't mutably borrow it into self, nor can we move it (because that would invalidate the existing borrows). 2018, Daniel Arbuckle, Rust Quick Start Guide:
Forms
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borrows
Number=Plur
lexicographic
boro
Jamaica, alternative
lexicographic
Translations (2)
ga cúiteamh (deviation of a rolling golfball) · ca caiguda (deviation of a rolling golfball)
From Middle English borwen, from Old English borgian (“to borrow, lend, pledge surety for”), from Proto-West Germanic *borgōn, from Proto-Germanic *burgōną (“to pledge, take care of”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰergʰ- (“to take care”).
Cognate with Dutch borgen (“to borrow, trust”), German borgen (“to borrow, lend”), Danish borge (“to vouch”). Related to Old English beorgan (“to save, preserve”). More at bury.
Meanings
To receive (something) from somebody temporarily, expecting to return it.
Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close. This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms. Those that want to borrow are matched with those that want to lend. 2013 June 1, “End of the peer show”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 71:
To receive money from a bank or other lender under the agreement that the lender will be paid back over time.
To adopt (an idea) as one's own.
Dryden’s form is of course borrowed from the ancients 1881, William Minto, Margaret Bryant, “John Dryden”, in Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition:
to borrow the style, manner, or opinions of another
It is not hard for any man, who hath a Bible in his hands, to borrow good words and holy sayings in abundance; but to make them his own is a work of grace only from above. 1649, J[ohn] Milton, ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ [Eikonoklástēs] […], London: […] Matthew Simmons, […], →OCLC:
To adopt a word from another language.
Americans, for example, call newcomers to Antarctica “fingies”, which comes from FNGs – a borrowed military abbreviation that means “Fucking New Guy”. 2024 June 20, Eva Corlett, “Fidlets, fingies and riding a doo: study sheds light on Antarctic English slang”, in The Guardian:
In a subtraction, to deduct (one) from a digit of the minuend and add ten to the following digit, in order that the subtraction of a larger digit in the subtrahend from the digit in the minuend to which ten is added gives a positive result.
(Malaysia, Singapore, West-Midlands, proscribed, qualifier:Upper Midwestern US) To lend.
“Gaia, could you borrow me your pencils ,^([sic]) today, if you do not use them?” 2007, Silvia Cecchini, Bach Flowers Fairytales, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 7:
“Rosie, borrow me your look looker, I bet my lips are all. Everytime^([sic]) I eat or drink, so quick I gotta fix ’em, yet.” 1951, The Grenadiers, edited by James P. Leary, Wisconsin Folklore, University of Wisconsin Press, published 1998, →ISBN, Milwaukee Talk, page 56:
Johari Salleh: Ya, ya. Better not waste time. Must prepare, tomorrow morning got inspection.
Teo Ah Beng: Ya lah, must kiwi [polish] the boots. Can borrow me your cloth?
Krishnamoorthy: Ya, no problem. You better kiwi quickly. 11 pm lights off. […] 1987, Michael Chiang, Army Daze, Singapore: Landmark Books, →ISBN:
Samson, with all the cunning of a rhetorical master, cornered him. 'Then can my young son borrow me his old rifle?' 1996, Beverley Harper, Storms Over Africa:
“Ryan, borrow me your lunch pail so we can fill it with blueberries. Susie can make us a pie.” 2005, Gladys Blyth, Summer at the Cannery, Trafford Publishing, →ISBN, page 83:
The next week she came back and she said to me and my husband, "If I borrow you the money to buy a little house do you think you can pay me back like rent?" 1999, Marie Hall Ets, Rosa: The Life of an Italian Immigrant, page 233:
In a bank they borrow you the money at very low rates and if you don't take it back, you suffer the consequences in a jail sentence and there's a certain procedure it goes through. 1999, Sarah Curtis, Children who Break the Law, Or, Everybody Does it, page 21:
Georgi reached for his empty pockets. “Can you borrow me your telephone?” 2006, Andrés Rueda, The Clawback, Andres Rueda, →ISBN, Chapter 13, page 131:
(ditransitive) To temporarily obtain (something) for (someone).
My folks couldn't afford a guitar, so my dad borrowed me a mandolin one time, and I was just learning to play it pretty good and the guy that he borrowed it from wanted it back. 1999 August 1, “Ronnie Dawson, Singer, Comments on his Career and Music”, in NPR_Weekend:
I went out and borrowed him a night cap; put him my night shirt on, and wrapped him in a blanket. 1866 April 20, Charles W. G. Howard, “Minutes of Evidence Taken Before the Select Committee”, in parliamentary debates (House of Commons), page 84:
Yes, my lord, he told me this in my own house; and I told him he might go to esquire Tindal, and I lent him eighteen pence, and borrowed him a horse in the town. 1681, Mr. Normanton, quotee, “Trial of Sir Miles Stapleton”, in State Trials, 33 Charles II, page 516:
You must borrow me Garagantua's mouth first: 'tis a word too great for any mouth of this age's size: To say, ay, and no, to these particulars, is more than to answer in a catechism. 1623, William Shakespeare, As You Like It:
George Lightfoot seemed to have forgotten he was meant to be a Lost Sheep, and turned up as the Tin Man, but I forgave him, because he'd managed to borrow me a divine brass crazier from one of his bishop friends. 2006, Laurie Graham, Gone with the Windsors, page 116:
To feign or counterfeit.
the borrowed majesty of England c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
borrowed hair 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 14:
(qualifier:obsolete except in ballads) To secure the release of (someone) from prison.
But if ony maiden would borrow me,
I would wed her wi' a ring,
And a' my land and a' my houses,
They should a' be at her command. Traditional, "Young Beichan" (Child ballad 53)
(informal) To receive (something, usually of trifling value) from somebody, with little possibility of returning it.
Can I borrow a sheet of paper?
(informal) To interrupt the current activity of (a person) and lead them away in order to speak with them, get their help, etc.
John, can I borrow you for a second? I need your help with the copier.
To adjust one's aim in order to compensate for the slope of the green.
Forms
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borrows
Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres
lexicographic
borrowest
Number=Sing, Person=2, Tense=Pres
archaic
lexicographic
borrowed
Number=Plur, Tense=Past
lexicographic
borrowed
Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Past
lexicographic
borrowed
Number=Sing, Person=2, Tense=Past
lexicographic
borrowed
Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part
lexicographic
borrowed
Mood=Sub, Tense=Past
lexicographic
borrowed
Number=Sing, Person=1, Tense=Past
lexicographic
borrowed
Tense=Past
lexicographic
borroweth
Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres
archaic
lexicographic
borrowing
Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part
lexicographic
borrow
Number=Plur, Tense=Pres
lexicographic
borrow
VerbForm=Inf
lexicographic
borrow
Mood=Sub, Tense=Pres
lexicographic
borrow
Number=Sing, Person=1, Tense=Pres
lexicographic
borrow
Mood=Imp, Tense=Pres
lexicographic
borrow
Number=Sing, Person=2, Tense=Pres
lexicographic
borrowedst
Number=Sing, Person=2, Tense=Past
archaic
lexicographic
boro
Jamaica, alternative
lexicographic
Antonyms
return (antonym(s) of “receive temporarily”) · give back (antonym(s) of “receive temporarily”) · lend (antonym(s) of “receive temporarily”) · carry (antonym(s) of “in arithmetic”) · take · buy
cmn 借用 (receive temporarily) · da låne (receive temporarily) · akl hueam (receive temporarily) · hi उधार लेना (receive temporarily) · te అప్పు చేయు (in a subtraction) · my ငှား (receive temporarily) · pt pegar emprestado (receive temporarily) · fr emprunter (copy a word from another language) · grc δανείζομαι (receive temporarily) · de ausleihen (receive temporarily) · pl zapożyczyć (copy a word from another language) · es pedir prestado (receive temporarily) · ru заи́мствовать (copy a word from another language) · ru позаи́мствовать (receive temporarily) · be пазыча́ць (receive temporarily) · cmn 摘 (receive temporarily) · cmn 貸 /贷 (receive temporarily) · uk запози́чити (copy a word from another language) · ko 빌리다 (receive temporarily) · pl zapożyczyć (adopt (an idea) as one's own) · kha pankylliang (receive temporarily) · uk пози́чити (receive temporarily) · ru взять в долг (receive temporarily) · mi mino (receive temporarily) · sl izposoditi (receive temporarily) · bno huyam (receive temporarily) · jam bara (receive temporarily) · ru занима́ть (receive temporarily) · de borgen (receive temporarily) · hy փոխ առնել (receive temporarily) · es emprestar (receive temporarily) · mn зээлэх (receive temporarily) · mi mino (copy a word from another language) · ms pinjam (receive temporarily) · ia imprestar (copy a word from another language) · uk запози́чити (adopt (an idea) as one's own) · duu nga (receive temporarily) · he שָׁאַל (adopt (an idea) as one's own) · scn fàrisi mpristari (receive temporarily) · uk запозича́ти (adopt (an idea) as one's own) · bg вземам назаем (receive temporarily) · it prendere in prestito (receive temporarily) · ca manllevar (copy a word from another language) · it importare (copy a word from another language) · it adottare (adopt (an idea) as one's own) · ka სესხება (receive temporarily) · jam baro (receive temporarily) · kjh փոխառել (copy a word from another language) · de übertragen (in a subtraction) · ru ода́лживать (receive temporarily) · pt emprestar (receive temporarily) · th กู้ (receive temporarily) · sl sposoditi (receive temporarily) · ro împrumuta (receive temporarily) · fi omaksua (adopt (an idea) as one's own) · az borc almaq (receive temporarily) · sk požičiavať si (receive temporarily) · sk prevziať (adopt (an idea) as one's own) · tl hiramin (receive temporarily) · pt pedir emprestado (receive temporarily) · lv aizņemties (receive temporarily) · el δανείζομαι (receive temporarily) · fr retenir (in a subtraction) · enm borwen (receive temporarily) · de entlehnen (copy a word from another language) · tl hiraman (receive temporarily) · fi lainata (in a subtraction) · uk позича́ти (receive temporarily) · he שָׁאַל (receive temporarily) · lut ʔalbiw̓əb (receive temporarily) · ru брать взаймы́ (receive temporarily) · izh lainata (receive temporarily) · ja 借りる (receive temporarily) · es calcar (copy a word from another language) · lt pasiskolinti (receive temporarily) · it ispirarsi (adopt (an idea) as one's own) · ru одолжи́ть (receive temporarily) · fi lainata (copy a word from another language) · oc manlevar (receive temporarily) · sk prevziať (copy a word from another language) · be пазы́чыць (receive temporarily) · sh позајмити (receive temporarily) · cmn 假借 (receive temporarily) · cmn 借 (receive temporarily) · es tomar prestado (receive temporarily) · de leihen (receive temporarily) · ang borgian (receive temporarily) · eo prunti (receive temporarily) · nrf emprunter (receive temporarily) · sv låna (receive temporarily) · vi mượn (receive temporarily) · bg заимствам (copy a word from another language) · ko 일시적으로 받는 (receive temporarily) · et laenama (receive temporarily) · nl lenen (receive temporarily) · tl manghiram (receive temporarily) · sco borrae (receive temporarily) · lt skolintis (receive temporarily) · pt adotar (adopt (an idea) as one's own) · enm borwen (in a subtraction) · za ciq (receive temporarily) · te అప్పుచేయు (receive temporarily) · ru позаи́мствовать (adopt (an idea) as one's own) · nb låne (receive temporarily) · uk запози́чувати (copy a word from another language) · sk preberať (adopt (an idea) as one's own) · pl zapożyczać (copy a word from another language) · da låne (copy a word from another language) · fi lainata (receive temporarily) · tl humiram (receive temporarily) · pt transportar (in a subtraction) · ca manllevar (receive temporarily) · pl pożyczyć (receive temporarily) · tr nakletmek (copy a word from another language) · az borc götürmək (receive temporarily) · ca amprar (receive temporarily) · cs půjčit si (receive temporarily) · he אימץ (adopt (an idea) as one's own) · lo ຢືມ (receive temporarily) · bg възприемам (adopt (an idea) as one's own) · sq huazoj (receive temporarily) · th ยืม (receive temporarily) · fi lainata (adopt (an idea) as one's own) · uk запози́чувати (adopt (an idea) as one's own) · sv låna (in a subtraction) · ium gaav (receive temporarily) · shn ယိမ် (receive temporarily) · jam baara (receive temporarily) · km ខ្ចី (receive temporarily) · zyp hlang (receive temporarily) · ru взять взаймы́ (receive temporarily) · vi vay (receive temporarily) · mww qev (receive temporarily) · tr iktibas etmek (copy a word from another language) · tbl dóm (receive temporarily) · ru получи́ть заём (receive temporarily) · zdj -azima (receive temporarily) · uk запозича́ти (copy a word from another language) · cy benthyca (receive temporarily) · ru брать в долг (receive temporarily) · nl ontlenen (receive temporarily) · ar اِسْتَعَارَ (receive temporarily) · sk preberať (copy a word from another language) · ga faigh ar iasacht (receive temporarily) · ca amprar (copy a word from another language) · eo prunti (copy a word from another language) · cs půjčovat si (receive temporarily) · yi לײַען (receive temporarily) · pl pożyczać (receive temporarily) · rup mprumut (receive temporarily) · fr emprunter (receive temporarily) · la mūtuor (receive temporarily) · es sacar prestado (receive temporarily) · pt tomar emprestado (receive temporarily) · duu svkyi (receive temporarily) · th ขอยืม (receive temporarily) · hu kölcsönkér (receive temporarily) · hy պարտք վերցնել (receive temporarily) · fa قرض گرفتن (receive temporarily) · ru заи́мствовать (receive temporarily) · is fá lánað (receive temporarily) · vi mượn (copy a word from another language) · bg пренасям (in a subtraction) · ru заня́ть (receive temporarily) · he שָׁאַל (copy a word from another language) · mi nopenope (adopt (an idea) as one's own) · tr ödünç almak (receive temporarily) · ru получа́ть заём (receive temporarily) · he אימץ (copy a word from another language) · bg заемам (receive temporarily) · ja 借用語 (copy a word from another language) · ru заи́мствовать (adopt (an idea) as one's own) · sk pozičať si (receive temporarily) · pl zapożyczać (adopt (an idea) as one's own) · fi ottaa lainaksi (receive temporarily) · sh pozajmiti (receive temporarily) · mk позајми (receive temporarily) · pac manh (receive temporarily) · hy փոխառել (receive temporarily) · mk позајмува (receive temporarily) · pt adoptar (adopt (an idea) as one's own) · tr ödünçlemek (copy a word from another language) · shn ယိုမ် (receive temporarily)
From Middle English borwe, borgh, from Old English borh, borg, from Proto-West Germanic *borgōn, from Proto-Germanic *burgōną (“to borrow, lend”) (related to Etymology 1, above).
Meanings
(archaic) A ransom; a pledge or guarantee.
(archaic) A surety; someone standing bail.
”where am I to find such a sum? If I sell the very pyx and candlesticks on the altar at Jorvaulx, I shall scarce raise the half; and it will be necessary for that purpose that I go to Jorvaulx myself; ye may retain as borrows my two priests.” 1819, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe: