owe
//əʊ//
informalForms
- present (v1)
- owe
- past (v2)
- owed
- past participle (v3)
- owed
- present participle
- owing
- 3rd person singular
- owes
Definitions
1.To be under an obligation to give something back to someone or to perform some action for someone.
- I owe Kevin five bucks which he lent to me last week.
- This time I'll cover for you, but now you owe me a favour.
- We owe it to our children to make our nation a better place to live in the future.
2.To have debt; to be in debt.
3.To have as a cause; used with to.
- The record owes its success to the outstanding guitar solos.
Frequency
Overall
Uncommon· #2488
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Uncommon
- General reading & writing
- Uncommon
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Etymology
From Middle English owen, from Old English āgan, from Proto-West Germanic *aigan (“to own”), from Proto-Germanic *aiganą, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eh₂óyḱe (“to possess, own”), reduplicated stative of *h₂eyḱ- (“to own”). See also own, ought.