Dictionary:

loan

  (lōn)

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.

To lend.

[Middle English lan, lon, from Old Norse lān.]

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.

When a lender gives money or property to a borrower, and the borrower agrees to return the property or repay the borrowed money, along with interest, at a predetermined date in the future.

Investopedia Says:
Borrowing money to buy a new car is a loan, as is borrowing money to construct a specialty coffee shop in your kitchen... we all have dreams.

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Money advanced to a borrower, to be repaid at a later date, usually with interest. Legally, a loan is a contract between a buyer (the borrower) and a seller (the lender), enforceable under the Uniform Commercial Code in most states. The terms and conditions for repayment of a loan, including the finance charge or interest rate, are specified in a loan agreement. A loan may be payable on demand (a Demand Loan), in equal monthly installments (an Installment Loan), or they may be good until further notice or due at maturity (a Time Loan).

There are various methods lenders use to categorize loans, both for internal control and for reporting lending activity to governmental agencies, for example, classification by maturity, industry, security, and type of borrower. Bank loans are normally classified by: (1) Commercial & Industrial Loans to business organizations; (2) interbank loans, which are mostly Federal Funds transactions, from one bank to another; (3) Loan Participations or loans to a single borrower shared by several banks; (4) real estate loans, which may be subdivided into construction loans and long-term Mortgage loans; and (5) loans to consumers, such as auto loans and other forms of consumer installment credit. See also Consumer Credit; Credit; Loan Participation; Parallel Loan; Secured Loan; Syndicated Loan; Term Loan; Time Loan; Unsecured Loan; Working Capital Loan.

Offer of borrowed money. Agreement for Debt financing. See Mortgage.
Example: The Wilsons used a Mortgage to buy their home, a Home Equity Loan to add a room, and an unsecured bank loan to buy new furniture.

verb

To supply (money), especially on credit: advance, lend. See give/take/reciprocity.

Definition: give money, possession temporarily
Antonyms: borrow

"delivery of a sum of money to another under a contract to return at some future time an equivalent amount with or without an additional sum agreed upon for its use; and if such be the intent of the parties the transaction will be deemed a loan regardless of its form" 428 P. 2d 190, 194. The characterization of a transaction as a loan or some other type of borrowing has significance in ascertaining whether usury laws apply to the amount of interest being charged.

Tutor's tip: Another word that sounds like "loan" which means the act of lending, is "lone" which means solitary.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
1.
n. - lån
v. tr. - låne

idioms:

• a loan of    et lån på
• loan out    udlåne
• loan shark    lånehaj, ågerkarl
• on loan    til låns, som et lån

2.
n. - udlån

Nederlands (Dutch)
lening, geldlening, het uitlenen, geleend woord/ gebruik, het geleende, laan, koeienmelkerij, (uit) lenen, ontlenen aan

Français (French)
1.
n. - (Fin) emprunt, prêt
v. tr. - prêter, prêter à

idioms:

• a loan of    un emprunt de, un prêt de
• loan out    prêter (à) (qn de l'argent)
• loan shark    usurier, prêteur sur gages
• on loan    prêter (ses services), être prêté à (un objet)

2.
n. - (Écosse, Nord de L'Angl.) chemin, petite route, lactarium

Deutsch (German)
1.
n. - Anleihe, Darlehen, Leihgabe
v. - leihen, verleihen

idioms:

• a loan of    das Leihen
• loan out    ausleihen
• loan shark    Kredithai
• on loan    geliehen, verliehen

2.
n. - Melkstelle, Gasse

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - δανείζω/-ομαι
n. - δάνειο, δανεισμός

idioms:

• a loan of    δανεικό
• loan out    δανείζω
• loan shark    τοκογλύφος
• on loan    δανεικός

Italiano (Italian)
prestare, prestito

idioms:

• a loan of    un prestito di
• be on loan    essere a prestito
• loan out    prestare
• loan shark    usuraio

Português (Portuguese)
v. - emprestar
n. - empréstimo (m) (Fin.)

idioms:

• a loan of    empréstimo
• loan out    emprestar de
• loan shark    agiota (m) (f) (Fin.)
• on loan    pegar emprestado

Русский (Russian)
давать взаймы, брать взаймы, ссуда, что-л. данное во временное пользование, выдача книг, заимствование

idioms:

• a loan of    заем чего-л.
• be on loan    быть во временном пользовании
• loan out    ссужать
• loan shark    ростовщик

Español (Spanish)
1.
n. - préstamo, empréstito
v. tr. - prestar

idioms:

• a loan of    un préstamo de
• loan out    prestar
• loan shark    usurero
• on loan    prestado, a préstamo

2.
n. - cesión

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - låna ut
n. - lån, kredit

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
贷款, 债权人, 借出, 贷与

idioms:

• a loan of    ...的贷款
• loan out    贷出, 借给...
• loan shark    放高利贷者
• on loan    借贷

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 貸款, 債權人, 借出
v. tr. - 借出, 貸與

idioms:

• a loan of    ...的貸款
• loan out    貸出, 借給...
• loan shark    放高利貸者
• on loan    借貸

한국어 (Korean)
1.
n. - 대여물, 대부금, 빚, 대여
v. tr. - 빌려주다, 이자를 붙여 대부하다

idioms:

• a loan of    대부
• loan out    빌려주다

2.
n. - 차용어, 외래어, 외래풍속

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 貸付け, 融資, 貸借物, 一時的義務, 外来の風習, 貸し付け
v. - 貸し付ける

idioms:

• a loan of    貸付金, 公債
• be on loan    貸し付けて, 借り入れて
• bridging loan    つなぎの融資
• loan out    貸す
• loan shark    高利貸し
• loan translation    翻訳借用

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يقرض, يعير (الاسم) قرض بفائدة, شئ معار, إعارة, كلمه دخيله‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮הלוואה, מילווה, השאלה‬
v. tr. - ‮השאיל, הילווה‬
n. - ‮נתיב, שביל צר, מקום רחב לחליבת פרות‬

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