lend
verbnounnouncommon in dialogue
- United States//ˈlɛnd//
- Australia//ˈlend/ ~ /ˈlɛ̝nd//
- //ˈlɪ̟nd//
To allow to be used by someone temporarily, on condition that it or its equivalent will be returned.
verb
- 1
To allow to be used by someone temporarily, on condition that it or its equivalent will be returned.
I will only lend you my car if you fill up the tank.
Where is that hundred euros I lent you months ago?
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.
- 2
To make a loan.
- 3
To be suitable or applicable, to fit.
Poems do not lend themselves to translation easily.
The long history of the past does not lend itself to a simple black and white interpretation.
- 4
To afford; to grant or furnish in general.
Can you lend me some assistance?
The famous director lent his name to the new film.
[…] Cato, lend me for a vvhile thy Patience, / And condeſcend to hear a young Man ſpeak.
Mountain lines and distant horizons lend space and largeness to his compositions.
- 5
To borrow.
Etymology
From earlier len (with excrescent -d, as in sound), from Middle English lenen, lænen, from Old English lǣnan (“to lend; give, grant, lease”), from Proto-West Germanic *laihnijan, from Proto-Germanic *laihnijaną (“to loan”), from Proto-Germanic *laihną (“loan”), from Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- (“to leave, leave over”). Cognate with Scots len, lend (“to lend”), West Frisian liene (“to lend, borrow, loan”), Dutch lenen (“to lend, borrow, loan”), Danish låne (“to lend, loan”), Swedish låna (“to lend, loan”), Icelandic lána (“to lend, loan”), Icelandic léna (“to grant”), Latin linquō (“quit, leave, forlet”), Ancient Greek λείπω (leípō, “leave, release”). See also loan.
noun
- 1
Loan (permission to borrow (something)).
“But,” says Arthur, “I wouldn't be proud of your clothes, / For you've only the lend of them, as I suppose.”
Yesterday asked Mr. Aray the lend of 8s. 6d. for a month.
However, Weldon would soon note his declining potato yield, and his suspicions were confirmed one night when he confronted Joe with a jumper full of spuds. Somehow, Joe managed to talk his way out of trouble. 'I told him I was getting the lend of them,' Joe laughed. It wasn't only vegetables that were targeted, though. For generations of children who grew up on ...
Our thanks go to Diran Adebayo for his support, especially his lend of Everything You're Told Is True, to the website. It has been an honour to host […]
noun
- 1
The lumbar region; loin.
- 2
The loins; flank; buttocks.
Etymology
From Middle English lende (usually in plural as lendes, leendes, lyndes), from Old English lendenu, lendino (“loins”), plural of Old English lenden (“loin”), from Proto-West Germanic *landī, from Proto-Germanic *landį̄ (“loin”), from Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- (“loin, kidney”). Cognate with Scots lend, leynd (“the loins, flank, buttocks”), Dutch lendenen (“loins, reins”), German Lenden (“loins”), Swedish länder (“loins”), Danish lænd (“loin”), Icelandic lendar (“loins”), Latin lumbus (“loin”) (whence loin), Polish lędźwie (“loins”), Russian ля́двея (ljádveja, “thigh, haunch”).
Forms
- plural
- lends
- past tense
- lent
- past participle
- lent
- present participle
- lending
- third person singular
- lends
lend · To allow to be used by someone temporarily, on condition that it or its equivalent will be returned.
lending · The action of, or an instance of the action of the verb to…length · The distance measured along the longest dimension of an…lenient · Lax; not strict; tolerant of dissent or deviation.