different between settlement vs debt

English

Etymology

settle +? -ment

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?set.l.m?nt/
• Hyphenation: settle?ment

Noun

settlement (plural settlements)

1. The act of settling.
2. The state of being settled.
3. A colony that is newly established; a place or region newly settled.
4. A community of people living together, such as a hamlet, village, town, or city.
5. (architecture) The gradual sinking of a building. Fractures or dislocations caused by settlement.
6. (finance) The delivery of goods by the seller and payment for them by the buyer, under a previously agreed trade or transaction or contract entered into.
7. (law) A disposition of property, or the act of granting it.
8. (law) A settled place of abode; residence; a right growing out of legal residence.
9. (law) A resolution of a dispute.

Synonyms

• (A resolution of a dispute): arrangement

Hyponyms

• See also Thesaurus:settlement

Derived terms

• settlement agreement
• settlement house

Related terms

• settler

Translations

English

Alternative forms

• dette (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English dette, dett, borrowed from Old French dete (French dette), from Medieval Latin d?bita, from Latin d?bitum (“what is owed, a debt, a duty”), neuter of d?bitus, perfect passive participle of d?be? (“I owe”), contraction of *dehibe? (“I have from”), from de (“from”) + habe? (“I have”). Doublet of debit.

The unpronounced "b" in the modern English spelling is a Latinisation from the Latin etymon d?bitum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d?t/
• Rhymes: -?t
• Homophone: death (with th-stopping)

Noun

debt (countable and uncountable, plural debts)

1. An action, state of mind, or object one has an obligation to perform for another, adopt toward another, or give to another.
2. The state or condition of owing something to another.
3. (finance) Money that one person or entity owes or is required to pay to another, generally as a result of a loan or other financial transaction.
4. (law) An action at law to recover a certain specified sum of money alleged to be due.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Burrill to this entry?)

Derived terms

Related terms

• debit
• debitor
• debtor
• indebted

Translations

See also

• owe

Further reading

• debt in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• debt in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Middle English

Noun

debt

1. Alternative form of dette