I O Un.

1618 N. Breton Court & Country *C Hee teacheth od fellowes play tricks with their Creditors, who in stead of payments, write IOV, and so scoffe many an honest man out of his goods.]

1795 Espinasse Rep. I. 426 marg. note An I.O.U. is admissible evidence of a debt without a stamp.

1809 J. Campbell Rep. Cases Nisi Prius 1 499 It had been held by Eyre C. J. that an I.O.U. was good without a stamp.

1817 M. Edgeworth Harrington & Ormond I. xvi. 442 The fellow understands nothing, in short, but his IOUs.

1833 Chitty Bills of Exchange 558.

1836 J. Grant Great Metrop. I. iv. 190 ‘I shall be able to pay it you in a couple of months’, said his Lordship, handing the ex-fishmonger his IOU.

1836 T. Hood Comic Ann. 86 I'm free to give my I O U, Sign, draw, accept, as majors do.

1840 F. Marryat Olla Podrida III. 247 Of course with IOU's upon his..domains.

1893 R. Bithell Counting-house Dict. (rev. ed.) IOU, a recognized contraction of the sentence, ‘I owe you.’ It is a simple acknowledgment of indebtedness to some particular person. As it is neither a promissory note nor a receipt, it requires no stamp. It is not a negotiable instrument, but as it is an acknowledgment of a debt, that debt can be sued for at any time, and is so far equal to a promissory note payable on demand.