- loan
- mid-13c., from O.N. lan, related to lja "to lend," from P.Gmc. *laikhwniz (cf. O.H.G. lihan "to borrow," Ger. leihen, Goth. leihan "to lend"), originally "to let have, to leave (to someone)," from PIE *leikw- (see relinquish). The O.N. word also is cognate with O.E. læn "gift," which did not survive into M.E., but its derived verb lænan is the source of lend (q.v.). As a verb, loan is attested from 1620s and was formerly current, but has now been supplanted in England by lend, though it survives in Amer.Eng. Loan word (1874) is a translation of Ger. Lehnwort; loan-translation is attested 1933, from Ger. Lehnübersetzung. Slang loan shark first attested 1905.