borrow

1 get temporarily; "May I borrow your lawn mower?" [ant: lend]

2 take up and practice as one's own [syn: adopt, take over, take up]

English

Pronunciation

• (UK): , /ˈbɒrəʊ/, /"bQr@U/
• (US): , /ˈbɑroʊ/, /"bAroU/

  Rhymes with: -ɒrəʊ

Etymology 1

borgian, from . Cognate with German borgen.

Verb

1. To receive (something) from somebody temporarily, expecting to return it.
2. To adopt (an idea) as one's own.
3. To copy a word from another language.
4. 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.

Synonyms

• sense adopt adopt, use

Antonyms

• sense receive temporarily give back (exchanging the transfer of ownership), lend (exchanging the owners), return (exchanging the transfer of ownership)
• sense in arithmetic carry (the equivalent reverse procedure in the inverse operation of addition)

Derived terms

• borrowed time
• borrower

Translations

Etymology 2

borg, from (related to Etymology 1, above).

Noun

1. A ransom; a pledge or guarantee.
2. A surety; someone standing bail.

   • 1819: ”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.” — Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

Borrow or borrowing can mean: to receive (something) from somebody temporarily, expecting to return it.

• In finance, monetary debt
• In language, the use of loanwords
• In arithmetic, when a digit become smaller than limit and the deficiency is taken from the next digit to the left
• In music, the use of borrowed chords
• In the Discworld fictional universe - "the art of overlaying one's hi mind on the mind of another creature so that she can see through its eyes and steer its actions" as practised by the character Granny Weatherwax

People

• David Borrow
• George Borrow
• Nik Borrow, bird artist

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