owe
UK /əʊ/ · US /oʊ/ verb
Forms owes owing owed ought own
- verb (ditransitive) To be under an obligation to give something back to someone or to perform some action for someone. “We owe it to our children to make our nation a better place to live in the future.”
- verb (intransitive) To have debt; to be in debt.
- verb (transitive) To have as a cause; used with to. “The record owes its success to the outstanding guitar solos.”
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.
Cognate with Sanskrit ईष्टे (īṣṭe, “to own, possess”).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To possess; to have, as the rightful owner; to own. [Obs.]
- verb To have or possess, as something derived or bestowed; to be obliged to ascribe (something to some source); to be indebted or obliged for; as, he owed his wealth to his father; he owed his victoty to his lieutenants. Milton.
Etymology [OE. owen, awen,aghen, to have, own, have (to do), hence, owe, AS. agan to have; akin to G. eigen, a., own, Icel. eiga to have, Dan. eie, Sw. äga, Goth. áigan, Skr. Ought, v., 2d Own, Fraught.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “owe”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details