different between owe vs unowed

English

Etymology

From Middle English owen, from Old English ?gan, from Proto-West Germanic *aigan (“own”), from Proto-Germanic *aigan?, from Proto-Indo-European *h?eh?óy?e (“to possess, own”), reduplicated stative of *h?ey?- (“to own”). See also own, ought.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /??/
• (US) enPR: ?, IPA^(key): /o?/
• Homophones: o, oh
• Rhymes: -??

Verb

owe (third-person singular simple present owes, present participle owing, simple past owed or (archaic) ought, past participle owed or (archaic) own)

1. (transitive) To be under an obligation to give something back to someone or to perform some action for someone.
   • 1596-99, Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act I, scene i:

     […] To you, Antonio,

     I owe the most, in money and in love;

     And from your love I have a warranty

     To unburden all my plots and purposes

     How to get clear of all the debts I owe.

   • 1854, Charles Dickens, Hard Times, Chapter 7:

     He inherited a fair fortune from his uncle, but owed it all before he came into it, and spent it twice over immediately afterwards.

2. (intransitive) To have debt; to be in debt.
3. (transitive) To have as a cause; used with to.

   The record owes its success to the outstanding guitar solos.

Usage notes

• The original past tense form was ought, which during Middle English began to be used with indefinite signification and has become a distinct verb. The original past participle survives in the adjective own.

Translations

Anagrams

• woe

Avava

Noun

owe

1. water

Further reading

• Terry Crowley et al, The Avava Language of Central Malakula (Vanuatu) (2006)

Middle English

Pronoun

owe

1. Alternative form of yow

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.v?/

Pronoun

owe

1. nonvirile nominative/accusative/vocative plural of ów

English

Etymology

un- +? owed

Adjective

unowed (not comparable)

1. Not owed.

2. (obsolete) ownerless