Definition of loan

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< loam

Loanda >

loan    (ln) KEY 

NOUN:

1. 1. Something lent for temporary use.
   2. A sum of money lent at interest.
2. An act of lending; a grant for temporary use: asked for the loan of a garden hose.
3. A temporary transfer to a duty or place away from a regular job: an efficiency expert on loan from the main office.

TRANSITIVE VERB:
Usage Problem loaned, loan·ing, loans

To lend.

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ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English lan, lon, from Old Norse ln; see leik^w- in Indo-European roots

OTHER FORMS:
loaner(Noun)
Usage Note:
The verb loan is well established in American usage and cannot be considered incorrect. The frequent objections to the form by American grammarians may have originated from a provincial deference to British critics, who long ago labeled the usage a typical Americanism. Loan is, however, used to describe only physical transactions, as of money or goods; for figurative transactions, lend is correct: Distance lends enchantment. The allusions lend the work a classical tone.