owev.

Brit.

/əʊ/, U.S.

/oʊ/

Forms: 1.

α. Old English agan, Old English agen, Old English agon, Old English ahan (rare), early Middle English aȝe, early Middle English aȝhenn ( Ormulum), early Middle English ahe, Middle English agh (north-west midlands, in a late copy), Middle English aghe (northern), Middle English–1600s (chiefly northern) (1900s– English regional (Yorkshire)) awe; Scottish pre-1700 av, pre-1700 1700s– aw, 1900s– yaa (northern). OE Genesis A (1931) 2327 Þu scealt sunu agan, bearn be bryde þinre.c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 8174 Off þe bettste pall. Þatt aniȝ mann maȝȝ aȝhenn.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 5877 Her-of þu scalt beon king & þas riche aȝen [c1300 Otho oȝe].c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 16017 No most þu nauere-mære Ængle-lond aȝe. ▸ c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 1292 I bigan denemark for to awe.c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 8956 The ost for to honour & agh hym as lord And his alligiaunce to loute, liked hom all.a1600 ( W. Stewart tr. H. Boece Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 470 For na dett that he can aw.1914 J. S. Angus Gloss. Shetland Dial. Aw, owe; to be bound to pay.

β. Middle English howe, Middle English oȝe, Middle English owee (transmission error), Middle English– owe, 1500s oghe, 1500s ough, 1500s–1600s ow. c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) 4149 Ne mai neuere for-swore mansipe leng oȝe [c1275 Calig. aȝen].c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) 9269 Ȝef he nolde þis owe and of his gult beo cnowe, þe king him wolde after and don al his mihte.c1390 Castle of Love (Vernon) (1967) 132 How miȝte he him more loue schowen Þen his oune liknesse habben and owen?1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 34/2 To haue cure and owe to wake.1580 J. Lyly Euphues & his Eng. (new ed.) f. 100 Who should owe the Calfe.1649 R. Lovelace Lucasta: Epodes, Odes, Sonnets, Songs 143 What your whiter chaster brest doth ow.1726 J. Swift Gulliver I. ii. i. 19 Being afraid the Boy might owe me a spight.1821 Ld. Byron Sardanapalus ii. i. 63 I blush that we should owe our lives to such A king of distaffs!1993 M. S. Anderson Rise Mod. Diplomacy (BNC) 123 The..taxpayer could owe them no grudge: they were unpaid.

2. Present indicative. a. 1st singular.

α. Old English–early Middle English ah, early Middle English hah, early Middle English (Middle English chiefly northern) ach, early Middle English (Middle English chiefly northern) agh, Middle English aghe (northern), Middle English auh, Middle English aw (chiefly northern), Middle English awe (chiefly northern), Middle English awghe, Middle English hawe; Scottish pre-1700 aw, 1700s 1900s– awe; N.E.D.(1904) also records forms early Middle English æh, Middle English au, Middle English aue, 1500s aw (chiefly northern), 1500s awe (chiefly northern). OE Battle of Maldon (1942) 175 Nu ic ah, milde metod, mæste þearfe.c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 11815 Þatt i me sellf all ah itt wald.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 13825 Wit-stand his biding agh [a1400 Trin. Cambr. ow] i noght.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) 5145 Sir, bi þe faythe I aghe [a1400 Gött. aw] to ȝou, þai ar kniȝttes as I trow.a1425 (?c1350) Ywain & Gawain (1964) 720 I aw þe honore and servyse.a1789 R. Burns Ronalds of Bennals xv But devil a shilling I awe, man.1932 G. Wilson in Sc. National Dict. I. 104/3 I wid gie a' 'at a [= I] awe t' get 'er safe back again.

β. early Middle English og, early Middle English oh, early Middle English ou, Middle English howe, Middle English ough, Middle English ouh, Middle English owene (perhaps transmission error), Middle English owȝe, Middle English–1600s ow, Middle English– owe, 1500s ove; N.E.D.(1904) also records forms early Middle English ohȝ, Middle English oȝ, Middle English ogh, Middle English oghe. c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 6369 Icholle wel þin mede ȝelde bi þe treuþe ich ou to þe.a1350 in K. Böddeker Altengl. Dichtungen (1878) 200 Iesu, þa ich sunful be..þe more oh ich to louie þe.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 10248 I am sua ful of sin Þat i na kirck agh [a1400 Trin. Cambr. owȝe; c1460 Laud ow] to cum in.a1450 Generides (Pierpont Morgan) (1865) 7422 I wil worship as I ow.c1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Life Man (Tiber.) 22676 I Schal synge with al my myght, And so I howe, off verrey ryght.1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 650/1 I owe dette.a1652 R. Brome Queenes Exchange (1657) v. i. sig. G^v I ow thee a just reward.1792 F. Burney Let. 12 Oct. (1972) I. 253 While I owe one Letter, I am always half in hope of owing another.1840 J. Pierpoint Airs of Palestine 20 (note) Perhaps I owe the apology to the reader.1930 E. Waugh Vile Bodies Epil. 249 Funny meeting you. I owe you some money.1993 L. Pemberton Platinum Coast 285 I think I owe you more than one drink after this morning.

b. 2nd singular.

α. Old English ahst, Old English aht (Northumbrian), early Middle English aȝest, early Middle English ahes, early Middle English ahest, early Middle English aust, early Middle English hahst, early Middle English hauste, Middle English agh (chiefly northern), Middle English aghe (chiefly northern), Middle English ahe (chiefly northern), Middle English au (chiefly northern), Middle English aw (chiefly northern), Middle English awe (chiefly northern); Scottish pre-1700 aw; N.E.D.(1904) also records a form early Middle English aȝes. OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. xviii. 28 Redde quod debes : geld þæt ðu aht to geldanne.OE Cynewulf Elene 725 Dryhten hælend, þu ðe ahst doma geweald, ond þu geworhtest þurh þines wuldres miht heofon ond eorðan ond holmþræce.a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 15 Heore uuel..þu aȝest to hetiene.a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 41 Ðu aust te folȝin ðane..onfald Iob.c1225 (?c1200) St. Juliana (Royal) 360 Ne ahestu nan habben.a1250 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Titus) (1940) 575 Þat tu ahes to don.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 23181 Þou agh [ed. ahe, a1400 Gött. au] to min.1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) ix. 753 Bow it as thou aw.a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1897–1973) 28 To luf me well thou awe.1597 A. Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae in Poems (1887) 44 Ȝe knaw, sir, ȝe aw, sir, To hald ȝe ay behind.

β. Middle English houyste, Middle English howe, Middle English howis, Middle English ogh, Middle English oghe, Middle English owist, Middle English owust, Middle English owyst, Middle English 1600s–1700s ow, Middle English– owe, Middle English– owest (now archaic), 1600s– ow'st (now archaic). a1250 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Nero) (1952) 55 Ichulle nimen hit onward ðe dette ðet tu owest [c1230 Corpus Cambr. ahest ?c1225 Cleo. aȝest] me.c1390 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 141 And ȝif þou fele þe siker and sounde, Þonke þou þi god as þou wel owe.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 26965 Ne..Þi-self ogh sai bot soth o þe.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) 4589 Þerfore owe [a1400 Gött. au; a1400 Fairf. aghe] þou bi riȝt.1483 Vulgaria abs Terencio (T. Rood & T. Hunte) sig. oviii Do as thow owyst to do.1502 tr. Ordynarye of Crysten Men (de Worde) i. iii. sig. d.i Thou owest to meruayll & fere.1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xx. 106 Thou that owest me obedience.1752 G. G. Beekman Let. 12 Mar. in Beekman Mercantile Papers (1956) I. 141 I Received advice from Philidelphia that Mr. Vanderhyde Had Atteached Captain Hawkins Sloop for what you Ow him.1801 in A. H. Craufurd Gen. Craufurd & Light Div. (1891) 10 You owe it to yourself to prepare against this.1975 Newsweek (Nexis) 29 Dec. 57 Do it because you owe me one... I carried you for nine months.

c. 3rd singular. (i). Original.

α. Old English–early Middle English ag, Old English–early Middle English ah, early Middle English æh, early Middle English aȝc (perhaps transmission error), early Middle English ahg (perhaps transmission error), early Middle English auh, early Middle English awh, early Middle English hah, early Middle English (Middle English northern) ach, early Middle English (Middle English northern) aȝe, early Middle English (Middle English northern) agh, early Middle English (Middle English northern) aw, Middle English aȝ (chiefly northern), Middle English aghe (chiefly northern), Middle English au (chiefly northern), Middle English aue (chiefly northern), Middle English augh (chiefly northern), Middle English awe (chiefly northern), Middle English awez (chiefly northern), Middle English haw (chiefly northern), Middle English hawe (chiefly northern); Scottish pre-1700 au, pre-1700 aw, pre-1700 awe. OE Andreas (1932) 518 Ah him lifes geweald, se ðe brimu bindeð, brune yða ðyð ond þreatað.OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xxiv. 47 Ofer eall þæt he ah [c1200 Hatton ag] he hyne gesett.a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 17 Ne noman ne agh werne þanne me him for nede þar to bit.a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 139 Reuerenda est nobis hec dies sancta..Muchel man ach to wurþen þis halie dei.a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 139 Sunnedei ah efri..Mon..to chirche cume.a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 35 Ðat god ðat he aw te donne.a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 45 Hlesteð hwat ðe hlauerd seið, ðe ðat scip auh.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 6727 For þes king æh al þis lond.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 267 Coursur of þe werld men au [a1400 Vesp. aght] it call.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 4380 He aue to thinck apon þe ending.?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1872) IV. 461 A man awe not to departe.a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) ix. xii. 51 He that aw this swerd.

β. early Middle English oc, early Middle English og, Middle English hogh, Middle English oȝ, Middle English oȝe, Middle English ogh, Middle English oghe, Middle English oh, Middle English oughe, Middle English ouh, Middle English ow, Middle English owȝe, Middle English (1800s– English regional (Suffolk)) owe; N.E.D.(1904) also records forms early Middle English ohȝ, early Middle English ou. a1200 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Trin. Cambr.) 2 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 220 Mi wit oh to be more.a1200 (?OE) MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 155 Ech sunedai..in chirche..al chirche folc ohg to ben gadered.a1200 (?OE) MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 189 Þat ilke wei ogh al mankin to holden þe þencheð to cumene to gode.a1250 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Nero) (1952) 28 Þet he ouh to siggen.a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) 250 Ne oȝ ur non oðer to sunen.?c1335 in W. Heuser Kildare-Gedichte (1904) 138 Þe wreche was hard that ow þe gode.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) 9686 Hit owȝe tried to be.?1490 W. Caxton Rule St. Benet (1902) 139 He owe to fall downe prosstrate.c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 5357 Bryng me to berenes on þi best wise..And honour me with obit as ogh myn astate.1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words 263 ‘Hue owe that there hoss?’ ‘Mr. Johnson he owe it.’1895 J. J. Raven Hist. Suffolk 260 Mr. Smith owe that there little farm now.

(ii). New formation.

α. Old English agæþ (rare), Old English agæð (rare), Old English ageð (rare), early Middle English aȝæð, early Middle English ahð, early Middle English auþ, early Middle English haheð, Middle English awes, Middle English aweþ, Middle English awiþ, Middle English aws, Middle English awthe, Middle English haht, 1800s aas (English regional (Cumberland)); Scottish 1800s aws, 1800s– aas (Orkney), 1800s– awes, 1900s– aa's (northern). eOE Royal Psalter: Canticles vii. 6 Hic ipse pater tuus possedit te : þes se fæder ðin ageð ðe.c1200 ( West Saxon Gospels: Luke (Hatton) xi. 21 Þonne beoð on sibbe þa þing þe he ahð [OE Corpus Cambr. ah].a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 9636 Dede he aws to thole for-þi.c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 30 Awiþ he not to blessiþ þe peple?1486 Bk. St. Albans sig. aij^v As she awthe to be.1816 W. Scott Old Mortality in Tales of my Landlord IV. iv. 87 Lord Evandale awes ye a day in ha'arst.1898 Shetland News 18 Dec. Gibbie aws da half o' him wi' mi midder.1920 J. Firth Reminisc. Orkney Parish 158 He that aas the coo lies neist the tail.

β. early Middle English howeð, early Middle English oget, Middle English howet, Middle English howeth, Middle English howith, Middle English howyth, Middle English oȝet, Middle English oȝeþ, Middle English oghþ, Middle English oȝþ, Middle English oowyht, Middle English ouhyt, Middle English ouyth, Middle English ovyth, Middle English oweht, Middle English owet, Middle English oweþ, Middle English owez, Middle English owiþ, Middle English owith, Middle English owithe, Middle English owyt, Middle English owyþ, Middle English owyth, Middle English woyyt (transmission error), Middle English–1700s ows, Middle English– owes, Middle English– oweth (now archaic), 1800s oa's (English regional (Cumberland)). c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 1730 He bið vnworð & lah, þe mon þe litul ah [c1300 Otho oȝeþ].a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 324 Quat oget nu ðat forbode o-wold?1340 Ayenbite (1866) 9 Þis heste ous uorbyet to nimene..oþre manne þing..be wyckede skele, aye þe wyl of him þet hit oȝþ. ▸ a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Eccles. xi. 8 He owith to han mynde of the derke tyme.1390 in J. Foxe Actes & Monuments (1570) I. 557/1 No B. owes to let a true priest.a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) 954 Pray we..to oure lady þat owyþ þys day.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 6161 Þis owes [a1400 Trin. Cambr. oweþ] euer to be in mind.?a1475 Ludus Coventriae (1922) 89 To whom þe mayd howyth to be maryed.1530–1 Act 22 Hen. VIII c. 12 Lyke as a trewe man oweth to do.1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets lxxix. sig. F^v What he owes thee.1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxx. 181 The debt, that every man oweth the Common-Wealth for his defence.1775 J. Watson Hist. Halifax 544 He owes an house.a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) 240 Mr. Brown owes that farm.1900 W. Dickinson & E. W. Prevost Gloss. Dial. Cumberland (rev. ed.) 229/1 Who oa's this?1976 Forbes (Nexis) 1 Dec. 61 These people better get themselves together... They seem to think the world owes them a living.

d. Plural

α. Old English agan, Old English agað (rare), Old English age (before personal pronoun), Old English agon, Old English agun, Old English–early Middle English agen, Old English (rare)–early Middle English ageð, late Old English ægon, early Middle English aȝæð, early Middle English age, early Middle English aȝen, early Middle English aȝeð, early Middle English agum, early Middle English ahen, early Middle English aweð, early Middle English haigen, Middle English ach (chiefly northern), Middle English aȝe (chiefly northern), Middle English agh (chiefly northern), Middle English aghe (chiefly northern), Middle English ah (chiefly northern), Middle English au (chiefly northern), Middle English aue (chiefly northern), Middle English augh (chiefly northern), Middle English aw (chiefly northern), Middle English awe (chiefly northern), Middle English az (chiefly northern), Middle English hach (chiefly northern), Middle English hagh (chiefly northern); Scottish pre-1700 au, pre-1700 aw, pre-1700 awe. OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) v. 5 Eadige synt þa liðan, forþam þe hi eorðan agun.a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 41 Swo we ageð to don.a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 57 We agen to cumen.a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 35 Swo aweð to donne alle.c1225 (?c1200) Sawles Warde (Bodl.) (1938) 2 Hu we ahen wearliche to biwiten us seoluen.1389 in J. T. Smith & L. T. Smith Eng. Gilds (1870) 39 Þei shullen makyn..no preiudice don to no maner man, be þe feyth þat þei owen to god and þe ligeaunce þat þei awe to oure lord þe kyng.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Coll. Phys.) 23824 We ah it noht to hald in were.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 11618 Þe lauerd agh [a1400 Gött. aue, a1400 Trin. Cambr. owe, L. ow] yee worthli to lufe.a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) ii. 4 Wele aghe we to brek thaire bandis of couatis & ill dred.a1500 Lancelot of Laik (1870) 3447 Yhe aw to be commendit.1552 Abp. J. Hamilton Catech. Tabil sig. *.i The trew seruice..quhilk we aw to him.1588 A. King tr. P. Canisius Cathechisme or Schort Instr. 57 Sa we au faith..to the kirk.

β. early Middle English ogen, early Middle English ohg, early Middle English owgie, Middle English howe, Middle English howen, Middle English oen, Middle English oȝen, Middle English oȝeð, Middle English oghe, Middle English ohen, Middle English oon, Middle English oþe, Middle English ouh, Middle English ouwe, Middle English owen, Middle English oweþ, Middle English oweth, Middle English owin, Middle English owiþ, Middle English own, Middle English owy, Middle English owyn, Middle English–1600s ow, Middle English– owe, 1700s ough; N.E.D.(1904) also records a form late Middle English owne. a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 57 Alse we oȝen to don.c1200 Incipits & Explicits in H. Wanley Catal. Librorum Septentrionalium (1705) 233 Muchel we owgie to wurðienne þisne dei þæt is Sunne icliped, for hit is Godes ogie dei.a1225 (?OE) MS Vesp. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 235 Ure king we oȝeð wrhmint.a1250 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Nero) (1952) 68 Uor þi owen þe gode..to habben witnesse.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) 12531 He wilneð al, and ich wilni al þæt wit beiene aȝæð [c1300 Otho oweþ].c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) 25319 Þat we oweþ cleane.?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 313 Þe whilk ȝe salle & ouh, to maynten with me.?c1430 (a1400) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 197 Þei owen to use þis doynge in mesure and reson.1444 Rolls of Parl. V. 124/2 Item, that the seid Baillifs..do..to bring or make bringe to the hondes of the seid vi men all maner rentz, revenuz, fines and othur profites that cometh or oweth to come to the commune profit.?a1450 (?c1400) Lay Folks' Catech. (Lamb.) (1901) 61 We owe to loue oure euyn-cristyn.1473 Rolls of Parl. VI. 86/1 The which vi marcs, the seid Priour..and his successours..owyn to pay.1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 280 This childlike feare, which is vnseparably ioined with the true loue we owe to our common father.1647 A. Cowley Sleep in Mistress ii All my too much Moysture ow.1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 60. ¶3 It was to this Age that we owe the Production of Anagrams.1849 J. D. Dana U.S. Exploring Exped.: Geol. (1850) viii. 439 They owe their appearance..to a silico-ferruginous solution.1988 K. Amis Difficulties with Girls vii. 86 We owe them a drink anyway, don't we?

3. Past indicative. (i). Original: see ought v. (ii). New formation.

α. Middle English awede, Middle English owede, Middle English owet (northern), Middle English owid, Middle English owyde, Middle English owyt (Irish English), Middle English wowid, Middle English– owed, 1600s ow'de, 1600s owd'st (2nd singular), 1600s owedst (2nd singular), 1600s–1700s ow'd; English regional 1800s– awed (Yorkshire), 1800s– ewet (Lincolnshire); Scottish 1800s aw'd, 1900s– aad (northern), 1900s– awed; N.E.D.(1904) also records a form late Middle English owyd. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) 14045 Wheþer owed to loue him bettur þo.1572 R. Harrison tr. L. Lavater Of Ghostes ii. x. 147 This man y^t owed y^e apparel.a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) iii. iii. 337 That sweete sleepe, Which thou owedst yesterday.1627 T. May tr. Lucan Pharsalia (1631) v. 18 The man that ow'd, and kept This boate.1735 T. Sheridan Let. 16 July in Swift's Lett. (1768) IV. 102 I cleared off the rent which I owed him.1801 J. Strutt Glig-gamena Angel-ðeod Introd. §3. 3 He owed his knowledge of letters to accident.1932 G. Wilson in Sc. National Dict. I. 105/1 She ees't t' boast 'at she awed nae man a saxpence.1987 Risks Digest (ACM Forum) (Electronic text) 31 Oct. The standard database check found the still unpurged record of my first entry and computed that I owed for 9 days.

β. English regional (chiefly East Anglian) 1800s– ew, 1800s– ewe, 1800s– owe. 1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words 120 He ewe me five pound.1895 J. J. Raven Hist. Suffolk xix. 260 I thought they ew [owed] us five pounds, but it turned out that we ew them ten.a1903 C. G. de Betham in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1903) IV. 394/1 [Suffolk] I never ewe anyone anything.

4. Past participle. (i). Original

α. Old English agen (see own adj.), Middle English owyn, 1500s oune, 1500s–1800s owen; English regional 1800s own (East Anglian), 1800s– awen (Yorkshire), 1800s– awn (Yorkshire); Scottish 1900s– aan; N.E.D.(1904) also records a form late Middle English owen. ?1460–4 R. Williamson in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 18 I..haue owyn to your person ryght herty love.1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Si^v/2 Oune, debitus.1642 J. Spelman View of Observ. upon His Majesties Late Answers 9 The King the supreame head..unto whom a body politique..been bounden and owen next to God.1642 J. Spelman View of Observ. upon His Majesties Late Answers 9 Bounden and owen to beare..obedience.1803 W. Taylor in J. W. Robberds Mem. W. Taylor (1843) I. 458 I have owen him a letter still longer.

β. See ought v.

(ii). New formation.

α. Middle English owid, Middle English owyd, Middle English– owed, 1500s oughed, 1500s owd, 1600s–1700s ow'd. ▸ a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) Num. vi. 17 He shal offre apesyble hoost to þe lord, offrynge..sacrefysys of lycours þat of manere been owed [L. debentur].?a1425 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. iv. pr. v. 102 Tormentz of laweful peynes ben rather owed to felonus citezeins.a1643 W. Cartwright Ordinary (1651) iii. iii. 42 All broken sleeps are ow'd Only to you.1717 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad III. ix. 827 Strength consists in Spirits and in Blood, And those are ow'd to gen'rous Wine and Food.1841 W. Spalding Italy & Ital. Islands II. 402 Landscape-painting..may be said to have owed its origin to Titian.1913 Law Rep. King's Bench Div. 1 410 More care, though not much, is owed to a licensee.1978 A. S. Byatt Virgin in Garden iii. xxxiv. 310 Lucas had fed and lectured and admired him: something was owed in return.

β. English regional (Suffolk) 1900s– ewe. a1903 F. Hall in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1903) IV. 394/1 [East Suffolk] Ewe.

5. With negative particle affixed. Old English nagon, Old English naht, Old English–early Middle English nah, early Middle English naȝen, early Middle English naȝest, early Middle English naust, early Middle English nouh, early Middle English nowen, early Middle English nowest, early Middle English noweþ, early Middle English nowth; see also ought v.OE West Saxon Gospels: John (Corpus Cambr.) x. 12 Se hyra se þe nis hyrde, & se þe nah þa sceap, þonne he þone wulf gesyhþ þonne flyhð he.?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 278 Ȝe ne achȝe [a1250 Nero nowen; c1230 Corpus ahen; a1250 Titus ahen] naut to unnen þet uuel wort beo of ow.a1250 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Nero) (1952) 115 Ȝif þe ueond bloweð bitweonen ou eni wreð–ðe..er heo beo wel i set, nouh non uorte nimen godes flesch & his blod.a1250 Lofsong Louerde in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 215 Þu nowest none mon nowitht þurh his of-seruunge.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.

Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian āga , Old Saxon ēgan , Middle Dutch eigen , Old High German eigan (Middle High German eigen ), Old Icelandic eiga , Old Swedish ägha (Swedish äga ), Danish eje , Gothic aigan (one of the original Germanic preterite-present verbs: see can v.¹, dare v.¹, dow v.¹, may v.¹) < the same Indo-European base (with a different ablaut grade) as Sanskrit īś- to possess, own.In English owe has undergone much change both of form and sense. The original preteritive inflection of the present tense began in Old English to be supplanted by the normal present tense inflections, and in modern English the tense is entirely thus levelled (compare Forms 2). The Old English past tense āhte , Middle English ahte , ohte , survives as ought v. (compare forms at that entry), which before 1200 began to be used (in the subjunctive) with an indefinite and hence present signification, in a special sense, and thus gradually came to be in use as a distinct verb; its function as past tense of owe is supplied from the late 14th cent. by owed (compare Forms 3). The original past participle in all the Germanic languages became an adjective, of which the modern English form is own adj.; for persistence of this form as a past participle see Forms 4(i). A later past participle ought , aucht , conformed to the original past tense, first appears in late Middle English and in Older Scots: see ought v. 1a(c), 3a(b), 4a(b). The current past participle of owe v. is owed , which first appears in the late 14th cent., so that the whole verb has now the ordinary weak conjugation. The change of signification from ‘to have’ to ‘to owe’ can be traced in the presentation of the senses below. The original sense ‘to have, possess, own’ (see branch I.) is still current in some dialects, which use forms of owe in the sense ‘to own’, and have not entirely lost the connection of owe and ought . In branches I.** and II. it replaces senses more usually expressed in Old English, as in the other Germanic languages, by shall v. This apparently originates in the Old English phrase āgan to gieldenne (see sense 2), with accusative and inflected infinitive, in sense ‘to have (something) to pay’ shading imperceptibly into ‘to have to pay (something)’; first attested in the Northumbrian gloss to the Lindisfarne Gospels, rendering Latin dēbēre (where the Mercian gloss to the Rushworth Gospels, like the later West Saxon Gospels, uses sculan ). Senses 3a and 6a represent a wider development of this. (See also ought v. 2, 7; and compare have v. VII.) Shall gradually ceased to have the sense ‘owe’, retained that of obligation with a weaker force, and became mainly an auxiliary of the future tense; while owe , in taking ‘to be obliged to pay’ as its main sense, has in Standard English lost that of ‘to have’, or passed it to the cognate own v., which shares it with have v. and such Romance synonyms as possess v. In Old English the prefixed form geāgan is also attested.

I. As a main verb.

* In senses expressing possession.

a. transitive. To have belonging to oneself; to possess; to be the owner of; = own v. 1. Now chiefly Scottish, esp. Irish English (northern).For illustration of the original past tense see ought v. 1.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > owning > own [verb (transitive)]

ownOE

oweOE

i-ahniec1000

ought1442

belong1921

OE Guthlac A 273 Bi hwon scealt þu lifgan, þeah þu lond age?

OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xiii. 44 Se man..sylþ eall þæt he ah & gebigþ þone æcer.

a1225 ( Ælfric's Homily De Duodecim Abusivis (Lamb. 487) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 103 Ira, þet is on englisc, wemodnesse..deð þet þe mon ne ah his modes iwald.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 6725 For þes king æh al þis lond.

c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 8890 (MED) Ne let me nomon owe, Bote he abbe an tuo name.

c1390 G. Chaucer Pardoner's Tale 361 If that the goode man that the bestes oweth [v.rr. awe, owe, oughe, Oowyht] Wol..drynken..a draughte..Hise bestes and his stoor shal multiplie.

a1475 J. Fortescue Governance of Eng. (Laud) (1885) 136 (MED) To some parte þeroff the eyres off thaim þat some tyme owed it be restored.

a1500 (?a1390) J. Mirk Festial (Gough) (1905) 171 (MED) A man doþ worschip to þe kyngis sele, not for loue of þe sele, but for reuerence of þe man þat owet hit.

1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. MMvi He that of very right owed the cappe.

?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads xxiii. 316 The horse The gods bred, and Adrastus ow'd.

1628 T. Spencer Art of Logick 117 The Oxe..knowes who owes him, and feedes him.

1664 S. Pepys Diary 12 July (1971) V. 202 Fine storehouses..but of no great profit to him that oweth them.

1775 J. Watson Hist. Halifax 544 He owes an house.

1800 Aurora (Philadelphia) 5 Dec. 2/3 America owes not a citizen more fitted than col. Burr, to be placed at the head of her government.

1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words 263 ‘Hue owe that there hoss?’ ‘Mr. Johnson he owe it.’

1858 Ulster Jrnl. Archæol. 6 41 Lord help the poor woman that owes you.

a1903 in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1903) IV. 394/1 [Norfolk] The man owes several cottages.

1923 G. Watson Roxburghshire Word-bk. 44 Whae awes this?

1953 M. Traynor Eng. Dial. Donegal 205/1 The man that owes the corn, owes the horn, i.e. he can do what he likes with what belongs to him.

1996 C. I. Macafee Conc. Ulster Dict. 243/2 Who owes ye?..to a child who do you belong to?

†b. transitive. To take or gain possession of; = own v. 2. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > acquisition > obtain or acquire [verb (transitive)]

wieldeOE

haveeOE

ofgoOE

oweOE

addlec1175

winc1175

avela1200

to come by ——a1225

covera1250

oughtc1275

reachc1275

hentc1300

purchasec1300

to come to ——c1330

getc1330

pickc1330

chevise1340

fang1340

umbracec1350

chacche1362

perceivea1382

accroacha1393

achievea1393

to come at ——a1393

areach1393

recovera1398

encroach?a1400

chevec1400

enquilec1400

obtainc1422

recurec1425

to take upc1425

acquirea1450

encheve1470

sortise1474

conques?a1500

tain1501

report1508

conquest1513

possess1526

compare1532

cough1550

coff1559

fall1568

reap1581

acquist1592

accrue1594

appurchasec1600

recoil1632

to get at ——1666

to come into ——1672

rise1754

net1765

to fall in for1788

to scare up1846

access1953

OE tr. Defensor Liber Scintillarum (1969) ii. 14 Dicit in patientia uestra possidebitis animas uestras : he segð on geþylde eowrum ge agað sawla eowre.

lOE Homily (Faust. A.ix) in R. Willard Two Apocrypha in Old Eng. Homilies (1935) 40 Gif þa deofla ongytað þæt hi agan þa sawle, þonne blissiað hy, and þa englas beoð swyþe unrote.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) 14186 Þe feond hine aȝe!

c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 1188 (MED) Þe deuel him hawe!

c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 1292 (MED) I bigan denemark for to awe.

a1500 (?a1325) Otuel & Roland (1935) 275 (MED) Y was neuer pale ne wan..so god my soule owe.

†c. transitive. To acknowledge, esp. as belonging to oneself; = own v. 3b. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > statement > acknowledgement, avowal, or confession > acknowledge, avow, or confess [verb (intransitive)] > acknowledge as one's own

owec1300

owna1616

c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) 9269 Ȝef he nolde þis owe and of his gult beo cnowe, þe king him wolde after and don al his mihte.

a1400 Siege Jerusalem (Laud) (1932) 784 (MED) Or I wende fro þis walle, ȝe schul wordes schewe & efte spakloker speke or y ȝour speche owene.

c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 8956 The ost for to honour & agh hym as lord And his alligiaunce to loute, liked hom all.

1617 G. Wither Abuses Stript (rev. ed.) i. viii. 96 Their forefathers..would not knowe If they were living, or for shame not owe them.

1622 E. Misselden Free Trade 30 Him that wrote a little treatise..which it seemes for modesty he refuseth to owe.

d. transitive. Scottish and English regional (northern). As past participle in who's owe: who owns. Cf. ought v. 1a(c).See further J. A. H. Murray Dial. S. Counties Scotl. (1873) 193 and Sc. National Dict. at Awe v.¹

ΚΠ

1568 in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS f. 143a Sone scho sayit, Quhois aw ȝone man?

1873 J. A. H. Murray Dial. S. Counties Scotl. 193 Quheae was aa thys hoose afuore yee bowcht it?

1890 Leeds Mercury Weekly Suppl. 20 Dec. Weäse owe they tweä kye?

1923 G. Watson Roxburghshire Word-bk. 44 Whae's awe this?

1928 A. E. Pease Dict. Dial. N. Riding. Yorks. 91/1 Wheea's aw this yan?..Wheeas aw yon bairn?

†2. transitive. to owe (something) to yield: to have (something) to pay. Obsolete.In later use merged in sense 6a (see note in etymology above).

ΚΠ

OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. xviii. 28 Redde quod debes : geld þæt ðu aht to geldanne [OE Rushw. scealt, OE Corpus Cambr. scealt, c1200 Hatton. scelt].

OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Luke xvi. 5 Quantum debes domino meo : huu micel aht ðu to geldanne hlaferde minum? [OE Corpus Cambr. scealt þu minum hlaforde].

OE Ælfric Homily (Trin. Cambr. B.15.34) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1968) II. 552 Hwæt ahst þu to gyldenne?

c1175 ( Ælfric Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 39 Ælc mon eornestlice ah to ȝeldene sum þing.

** In senses expressing debt.

a. transitive. To be required or obliged to pay or repay (money, etc.), esp. in return for something received; to be indebted to the amount of; to be or feel under an obligation to render (obedience, allegiance, etc.); to be or feel under an obligation to give (a drink, an apology, etc., in return for some action). Usually with indirect object or to (also unto).In quot. OE at α. forms the word geldanne is to be understood after to (cf. sense 6a).For illustration of the past tense in earlier form see ought v. 3.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > management of money > insolvency > indebtedness > owe [verb (transitive)]

shallc975

owec1175

ought1483

behove1496

rest1503

tick1674

to run up1684

ought1822

OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Luke xvi. 7 Quantum debes : huu feolo aht ðu to? [OE Corpus Cambr. scealt þu].]

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 16529 Ȝiff þu litell dost forr godd Godd ah þe litell mede.

1258 Proclam. Henry III in Trans. Philol. Soc. (1868–9) 19 (MED) And we hoaten alle vre treowe in þe treowþe þæt heo vs oȝen.

c1330 in T. Wright Polit. Songs Eng. (1839) 332 (MED) Bi the feith I owe to God, if the cors is lene, He wole wagge aboute the cloistre.

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Luke xvi. 5 Hou moche owist [L. debes] thou to my lord?

a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) 5905 The marchaunt owith [Fr. doit] thee right nought.

1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope vii He is wyse that payeth that that he oweth of ryght.

a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1546) sig. H.viij^v The people owe obedyence to the prynce.

1588 A. King tr. P. Canisius Cathechisme or Schort Instr. 38 In it chyldrene ar taucht quhat thay aw vnto thair parents.

a1641 R. Montagu Acts & Monuments (1642) 93 They owe him no leigance, nor obedience.

1670 Earl of Clarendon Ess. in Tracts (1727) 137 The communicative duty which we owe to our brethren.

1735 T. Sheridan Let. 16 July in Swift's Lett. (1768) IV. 102 I cleared off the rent which I owed him.

1792 T. Holcroft Anna St. Ives II. xxi. 152 I owed a fellow servant a guinea and a half, which I had borrowed to buy shirts and stockings.

1840 J. Pierpoint Airs of Palestine 20 (note) Perhaps I owe the apology to the reader.

1879 J. A. Froude Cæsar xviii. 301 He already owed half a million of money.

1930 E. Waugh Vile Bodies Epil. 249 Funny meeting you. I owe you some money.

1978 A. S. Byatt Virgin in Garden iii. xxxiv. 310 Lucas had fed and lectured and admired him: something was owed in return.

2003 Sunday Tel. (Sydney) (Nexis) 6 Apr. t8 By the way, you still owe me 20 Fijian dollars.

b. intransitive. To be indebted, be in debt. Now chiefly with for. Cf. owing adj. 1.In quot. 1455 with passive sense.For illustration of the past tense in earlier form see ought v. 3b.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > management of money > insolvency > indebtedness > be in debt [verb (intransitive)]

owe1455

oughta1464

to be indebted1601

outstand1729

1455 Paston Lett. (1904) III. 58 The seyd Fastolf ys yhyt owyng for his porcion and part for the recompens and reward that shuld grow and be dewe to hym.

1482 in J. P. Collier Househ. Bks. John Duke of Norfolk & Thomas Earl of Surrey (1844) 174 Item, Gante is owing for another day with his tomberel.

1607 T. Heywood Woman Kilde with Kindnesse sig. G2 I haue nothing, nothing, left, I owe euen for the clothes vpon my backe.

1705 B. Mandeville Grumbling Hive 4 No Honour now could be content, To live, and owe for what was spent.

a1784 S. Jenyns Wks. (1790) I. 174 At shops all round I owe for fifty things.

1865 J. W. Carlyle Lett. III. 285 I owed for my summer bonnet and cloak.

1987 Risks Digest (ACM Forum) (Electronic text) 31 Oct. The standard database check found the still unpurged record of my first entry and computed that I owed for 9 days.

c. transitive. To be indebted to, be under an obligation to (a person). Cf. ought v. 3c.

ΚΠ

1836 C. M. Sedgwick Poor Rich Man & Rich Poor Man xviii. 159 She under-rented two rooms of me, and went away owing me.

1894 Outing 24 256/1 She says she owes me for the preservation of her life on the island.

1904 Westm. Gaz. 29 Sept. (Special ed.) 5/2 Here is a woman who owes everybody, and by the death of this girl she draws thirty pounds.

1970 ‘E. Queen’ Last Woman ii. 135 ‘She'll come’, Newly said grimly. ‘After that yarn of hers, she owes me.’

1998 Buffalo (N.Y.) News (Nexis) 25 June 3 b Customers who owe the house can be chained in the stacks until they pay up.

d. transitive. Sport. To be under an obligation to give an opponent (a number of strokes, points, etc.) as a handicap.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > winning, losing, or scoring > win, lose, or score [verb (transitive)] > owe handicap points

owe1904

1904 J. P. Paret Lawn Tennis 345 Owe-fifteen (thirty or forty), a term used in handicap play to indicate that one player must make one (fifteen), two (thirty), or three (forty) points in each game before he begins to score.

1908 Daily Chron. 24 Aug. 9/3 Mr. F. Scarf..owing one stroke, beat Mr. R. C. Oppenheimer,..(handicap 15), by 7 holes up and 5 to play.

1922 Times 16 Sept. 4/4 The principle of the handicap is weight for age; according to this a man of forty-one would owe thirty to a man of seventy, receiving thirty.

2001 Times Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) (Nexis) 25 May c1 Slower boats have higher handicap numbers, therefore more time is owed to them at the end of the race by faster boats.

a. transitive. To have or cherish towards another (a feeling, regarded as something yet to be put into action); to bear (good or ill will). Now chiefly in to owe a grudge.For earlier past tense see ought v. 4a.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > emotional attitude > hold, entertain, or cherish (a feeling) [verb (transitive)] > entertain a feeling towards

to look on ——lOE

owea1375

to look upon ——c1405

the world > action or operation > behaviour > reciprocal treatment or return of an action > treat one as he has been treated [verb (transitive)] > requite or pay back (a person) > be due to requite

owea1375

oughtc1430

a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 2675 I beseche & preie fo[r] loue þat ȝe owe to þe lord, þat let ȝou be fourmed.

c1390 G. Chaucer Parson's Tale I. 746 Auarice..dooth wrong to Iesu Crist, for it bireueth hym the loue that men to hym owen.

c1460–4 Paston Lett. (1976) ii. 18 I..haue owyn to your person ryght herty love.

1461 M. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 271 He told me þat he felt by hem þat they wold owe yow ryth good wyll so þat ye wold owe hem good wyll.

c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) lxx. 240 Ye do me greate wronge to owe me youre yll wyll.

1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. lxx To whom the Cardinall did not owe the best fauor.

1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 209 They..will wait two or three houres for some to whom they owe some speciall grudge, to bestow their curse vpon him.

1657 Lusts Dominion iv. i. sig. E4^v All that love Which by innative duty I did owe her.

1707 J. Shirley Triumph of Wit (ed. 5) 203 There stands Jack Ketch, that Son of a Bitch, that owes us all a grudge.

1726 J. Swift Gulliver I. ii. i. 19 Being afraid the Boy might owe me a spight.

1742 H. Fielding Joseph Andrews II. iv. iii. 188 They are..a Scandal to a Profession..which owes to such kind of Rascallions the Ill-will which weak Persons bear towards it.

1811 J. Austen Sense & Sensibility III. xiii. 263 I can safely say I owe you no ill-will.

1894 ‘M. Twain’ Pudd'nhead Wilson xx. 273 I owe them no good will, considering the brunette one's treatment of me that night.

1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage lviii. 298 She seemed to be constantly humiliating him, and for each snub that he endured he owed her a grudge.

1943 S. H. Bell Summer Loanen 60 ‘Naw, I will not,’ laughed Davie, ‘I owe ye no grudge.’

1992 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 16 May 9 Personally I owe Souness no ill will. I hope he makes a complete recovery from his operation.

†b. transitive. figurative. To have or bear to a person or thing (a relation which must be acknowledged). Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > relationship > relate to [verb (transitive)]

haveeOE

toucha1325

to have respect to (formerly also unto)a1398

connex?1541

report1548

bear1556

respect1614

to stand to ——1634

owe1644

connect1751

to tie in1958

1644 H. Parker Jus Populi 59 Monarchy and Aristocracy are derivative forms and owe a dependance on Democracy.

1661 J. Glanvill Vanity of Dogmatizing xii. 116 They owe no other dependence to the first, then what is common to the whole Syntax of beings.

1855 J. L. Motley Rise Dutch Republic I. i. iii. 207 There was nothing in his character or purposes which owed affinity with any mood of this jocund and energetic people.

5. figurative.

a. transitive. To have to ascribe or attribute (something) to, or acknowledge as derived from (some person or thing); to have, as received from or caused by some person or thing; to be indebted or beholden for. With to (in early use with indirect object).For the earlier past tense see ought v. 5.

ΘΚΠ

the world > existence and causation > causation > attribution or assignment of cause > assign to a cause [verb (transitive)] > attribute something to someone

owe1709

1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. iii. 79 But th' Earth, not onely th' Ocean debter is For these large Seas: But sh' owes him Tanais [etc.].

1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xi. 94 Thou owest the worme no silke, the beast no hide.

1709 A. Pope Chaucer's January & May in Poet. Misc.: 6th Pt. 181 Abusive Nabal ow'd his forfeit Life To the wise Conduct of a prudent Wife.

1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 60. ¶3 It was to this Age that we owe the Production of Anagrams.

1761 tr. C. Batteux Course Belles Lettres II. ii. Art. iii. xv. 154 If Homer enchants us, we owe the satisfaction wholly to the beauty of the things.

1816 J. Wilson City of Plague iii. i. 325 I owe my life to thee.

1868 J. N. Lockyer Elem. Lessons Astron. (1879) vi. 228 We owe the discovery of the prismatic spectrum to Sir Isaac Newton.

1920 A. Carnegie Autobiogr. xi. 150 It was to Madam Botta I owed my election to membership.

1986 P. Bailey Gabriel's Lament vii. 136 To what do I owe this unexpected honour?

†b. intransitive. To acknowledge as the basis or reason for an event or circumstance. Obsolete. rare.

ΚΠ

1619 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher King & No King i. sig. A4 I thinke we owe thy feare for our victorie.

†c. intransitive. To be obliged or beholden to a person or thing (for something). Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > gratitude > give thanks [verb (intransitive)] > be obliged

to be obliged1552

owe1638

1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients 46 Accurate Artificers..owe more unto Doctrine than unto Nature.

1653 A. Marvell Let. 28 July in Poems & Lett. (1971) II. 304 In this both he and I ow infinitely to your Lordship.

1686 tr. J. Chardin Trav. Persia 93 Others assert, That they owe for their knowledge of Christianity to one Cyril.

†II. As a modal auxiliary.

6. To have as a duty; to be under an obligation (to do something).For the past tense, see ought v. 6. Cf. also owing adj. 1. See also note in etymology above.

a. With to and infinitive. = ought v. 7a(a). Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > morality > duty or obligation > [verb (intransitive)]

haveeOE

oweOE

byrc1175

needc1395

busc1400

had needa1425

behovec1475

fall1681

note1789

ought1816

oughta1840

society > morality > duty or obligation > [verb (transitive)] > have (a duty) > owe (a duty)

oweOE

shallc1325

oughtc1520

OE Ælfric Homily (Trin. Cambr. B.15.34) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1968) II. 505 Þa men sceolon styran þe to styrene agon, þæt syndon þa witan, þe ðone wisdom habbað and fram Gode þone anweald.

OE Wulfstan Institutes of Polity (Junius) 142 Þonne agan weofodðenas to smeagenne symble, þæt hi huruðinga heora lif fadian, swa swa to cyrcan gebyrige mid rihte.

a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 57 Alse we ogen to don.

a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 21 (MED) Swilcne lauerd we aȝen to dreden.

1387–8 Petition London Mercers in R. W. Chambers & M. Daunt Bk. London Eng. (1931) 37 We mowe shewe vs & sith ben holden suche trewe [men] to hym as we ben & owe to ben.

a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) 836 (MED) Þe seruyng man..Oweþ to come when he haþ leysere.

?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1869) II. 293 Thei awe to be namede raþer Agarenes.

1496–7 Act 12 Hen. VII c. 12 §4 Yf any of the Collectours..reare more somme than..owe to be areared in or upon any Toun.

1534 T. More Treat. Passion in Wks. 1314/1 You owe also one to weshe an others fete.

1537 Let. 3 Oct. in Remains (1833) I. 211 As obedient..as a true Christian oweth to be.

1598 Chaucers Dreame in T. Speght Wks. G. Chaucer f. 361^v/2 Forgotten was no thing That owe to be done.

b. With bare infinitive. = ought v. 7a(b). Obsolete.

ΚΠ

OE Homily: Sermo ad Populum Dominicis Diebus (Lamb. 489) in A. S. Napier Wulfstan (1883) 294 Man ah seoce men to geneosianne and deade bebyrian.

a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 53 (MED) Nu age we alle and al cristene folc nime forbisne after þat israelisshe folc.

a1250 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 7 (MED) Seynte marie..Ich ouh wurðie ðe mid alle mine mihte.

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 15 Cristene men ogen ben so fagen So fueles arn quan he it sen dagen, Ðan man hem telled soðe tale.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 5104 (MED) All your bidding Agh be til vs als comanding.

1524 King Henry VIII Let. to Pace in J. Strype Eccl. Memorials (1724) I. ii. App. xiii. 28 They shuld & owe, not oonely forbere to geve ayde.

1543 ( Chron. J. Hardyng (1812) 368 As prysoners owe home agayn repeire.

7. impersonal. With person affected as indirect object. me owe (or oweth): it befits me, it is due or proper to me; it behoves me, I ought. Obsolete.For the past tense see ought v. 8.

ΘΚΠ

society > morality > duty or obligation > [verb (transitive)]

birc950

oughtOE

behovec1175

dowa1225

liea1225

owea1250

it stands one upona1393

liea1400

busc1400

hovec1450

to stand (a person) in (also on) handc1555

import1561

stand1602

befit1604

to stand on ——1608

to lie with1885

a1250 Lofsong Lefdi (Nero) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 205 Ich bide þe and biseche þe and halsi ȝif me howeð [v.r. haheð] hit.

a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) 231 Ðe hertes hauen anoðer kinde, Ðat us oȝ alle to ben minde.

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1959) Exod. xxi. 13 I schall ordeyne to þe aplace whiþer hym awe to flee.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) 18791 Wele vs agh to loue him.

c1429 Mirour Mans Saluacioune (1986) l. 4510 Hym awe serue and luf Godde with his hert alle & somme.

a1450 York Plays (1885) 187 Full glad and blithe awe vs to be.

c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 5357 Bryng me to berenes on þi best wise..And honour me with obit as ogh myn astate.

Phrases

P1. to owe it to oneself (to do something): to be required or impelled to do something because it is in one's own interest; to deserve something (as a reward, etc.) for oneself.

ΚΠ

1736 W. Popple Double Deceit v. 71 Tho' I owe you no Justification, that basely can believe so vile a thing of me, yet I owe it to myself.

1794 W. Godwin Caleb Williams II. viii. 121 I..was finally convinced that I owed it to myself to withdraw from his service.

1823 M. W. Shelley Valperga III. i. 10 She believed, that she owed it to herself to revive from the kind of moral death she had endured.

1860 W. Collins Woman in White (new ed.) III. 284 I owed it to myself to consider the chances against me, before I confronted them.

1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage xxxiii. 148 He owed it to himself to seduce her.

1992 Daily Star 16 Jan. 22/2 You owe it to yourself to let your hair down and just have some fun.

P2. colloquial. to owe (someone) one, (also) to owe (someone) a big one: (a) to be beholden or indebted to someone for a favour, act of kindness, etc., done for one; (b) to bear a grudge against someone (cf. sense 4a); to desire revenge for an ill deed done against one.

ΚΠ

1802 G. Colman Poor Gentleman (new ed.) i. ii. 16 Thank you, good Sir, I owe you one.

1830 J. Galt Lawrie Todd (1849) vi. i. 252 I owed him one for his shortness about family concerns.

1877 Spirit of Times 15 Dec. 532/3 His looks told him that he had got even with Ferry at last. The tables are turned. Ferry owes him ‘one’.

1975 Newsweek (Nexis) 29 Dec. 57 Do it because you owe me one... I carried you for nine months.

1984 Washington Post (Nexis) 19 Nov. a23 They suspect that they may have been among Reagan's most potent allies in his landslide reelection this year. Ironically, their private view is that he owes them a big one.

1993 J. Russell Payback (BNC) 158 I fucking owe you one... You killed my oppo.

2001 W. Ferguson Generica vii. 52 Jenni looked up from untying Edwin's shoes. ‘Owe you one, May,’ she said cheerfully.

P3. the world owes one a living (and variants): one is entitled to be well supported or provided for either on account of one's merits or simply because one exists. Chiefly in negative contexts, or with explicit indication that belief in such entitlement is lazy, naive, etc.

ΚΠ

1850 R. M'Sherry El Puchero xxxvi. 160 The multitude of beggars..seem to understand that the world owes them a living, which they are determined to have.

1854 Ladies' Repository May 238/2 That the ‘world owes every one a living’ is an impudent and mischievous fiction.

1867 S. Lanier Tiger-lilies ii. xii. 199 The drones, the kind who swear that the world owes them a living, but who are too lazy to collect the debt.

1918 W. Cather My Ántonia i. vii. 55 He had forgot that the world does n't owe rattlers a living.

1976 Listener 8 Apr. 426/1 No one owes us a living; we cannot beat unemployment unless we beat inflation.

1992 Making Music May 11/2 The music business doesn't owe anyone a living.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2005; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	owe
释义	† owen. Forms: Old English ogha (rare), Old English–early Middle English oga, early Middle English hou, early Middle English oȝa, Middle English owe, Middle English owye. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: < the same Germanic base as Gothic og (preterite-present verb) I fear < the same Indo-European base as Early Irish -ágathar (in ad-ágathar fears, dreads, stands in awe of), and probably also (apparently with different ablaut: e -grade) ancient Greek ἄχεσθαι to grieve, ἄχος pain, distress. Compare ( < the same Germanic base, but with different suffixes) Old Icelandic ógn fear, dread, terror, óask to be frightened, œgja to frighten (see awe v.), etc. Compare eye n.² and later awe n.¹In later use probably partly associated with awe n.¹ and perhaps sometimes perceived as a southern variant of that word (with quot. c1330 at sense 1 compare to stand in awe of at awe n.¹ Phrases 1b). The form hou could alternatively be interpreted as a variant of (etymologically unrelated) how n.¹, but with its context in quot. a1325 at sense 1 compare to stand eye of at eye n.² Phrases. Obsolete. 1. Fear, dread, awe.With quots. a1325 and c1330, compare eye n.² Phrases a. ΚΠ OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xxxi. 447 Ða asprang micel oga & gryre ofer eallum þam ungeleaffullum, & hi þa gelyfdon. a1325 (c1250) Prov. Hendyng (Cambr.) xviii, in Anglia (1881) 4 185 Man no wimman ne can ich cnou, Wile þat ever ham stondet hou..wan hi mowen Haven har wille. c1330 Seven Sages (Auch.) (1933) l. 1753 Þer of ne stod him non owe [c1475 Egerton awe]. c1475 Proverbs (Rawl. D.328) in Mod. Philol. (1940) 38 117 (MED) Impetuosus homo numquam dolore carebit. A hasty man lackyth neuer owye. 2. Something which inspires or instils fear, dread, or awe. Cf. eye n.² 2a, later awe n.¹ 2. ΚΠ OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xxxvii. 310 Micele eorðstyrunga beoð geond stowa. Coðu and hungor beoð, and ogan of heofenum and micele tacna. OE Seven Sleepers (Julius) (1994) 34 Ða þa hi gesawon swa mænigfealde ogan on mistlicum witum, ða wurdon hi sona ungeheorte. OE tr. Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarium (Vitell.) (1984) clxxix. 224 Ðeos wyrt..to manegum þingon wel fremað, þæt ys þonne ærest ongean deofolseocnyssa..& wið andan & wið ogan [?a1200 Harl. 6258B wið oȝan; L. adversus terrores]. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2019; most recently modified version published online December 2020). owev. Brit. /əʊ/, U.S. /oʊ/ Forms: 1. α. Old English agan, Old English agen, Old English agon, Old English ahan (rare), early Middle English aȝe, early Middle English aȝhenn ( Ormulum), early Middle English ahe, Middle English agh (north-west midlands, in a late copy), Middle English aghe (northern), Middle English–1600s (chiefly northern) (1900s– English regional (Yorkshire)) awe; Scottish pre-1700 av, pre-1700 1700s– aw, 1900s– yaa (northern). OE Genesis A (1931) 2327 Þu scealt sunu agan, bearn be bryde þinre.c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 8174 Off þe bettste pall. Þatt aniȝ mann maȝȝ aȝhenn.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 5877 Her-of þu scalt beon king & þas riche aȝen [c1300 Otho oȝe].c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 16017 No most þu nauere-mære Ængle-lond aȝe. ▸ c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 1292 I bigan denemark for to awe.c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 8956 The ost for to honour & agh hym as lord And his alligiaunce to loute, liked hom all.a1600 ( W. Stewart tr. H. Boece Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 470 For na dett that he can aw.1914 J. S. Angus Gloss. Shetland Dial. Aw, owe; to be bound to pay. β. Middle English howe, Middle English oȝe, Middle English owee (transmission error), Middle English– owe, 1500s oghe, 1500s ough, 1500s–1600s ow. c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) 4149 Ne mai neuere for-swore mansipe leng oȝe [c1275 Calig. aȝen].c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) 9269 Ȝef he nolde þis owe and of his gult beo cnowe, þe king him wolde after and don al his mihte.c1390 Castle of Love (Vernon) (1967) 132 How miȝte he him more loue schowen Þen his oune liknesse habben and owen?1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 34/2 To haue cure and owe to wake.1580 J. Lyly Euphues & his Eng. (new ed.) f. 100 Who should owe the Calfe.1649 R. Lovelace Lucasta: Epodes, Odes, Sonnets, Songs 143 What your whiter chaster brest doth ow.1726 J. Swift Gulliver I. ii. i. 19 Being afraid the Boy might owe me a spight.1821 Ld. Byron Sardanapalus ii. i. 63 I blush that we should owe our lives to such A king of distaffs!1993 M. S. Anderson Rise Mod. Diplomacy (BNC) 123 The..taxpayer could owe them no grudge: they were unpaid. 2. Present indicative. a. 1st singular. α. Old English–early Middle English ah, early Middle English hah, early Middle English (Middle English chiefly northern) ach, early Middle English (Middle English chiefly northern) agh, Middle English aghe (northern), Middle English auh, Middle English aw (chiefly northern), Middle English awe (chiefly northern), Middle English awghe, Middle English hawe; Scottish pre-1700 aw, 1700s 1900s– awe; N.E.D.(1904) also records forms early Middle English æh, Middle English au, Middle English aue, 1500s aw (chiefly northern), 1500s awe (chiefly northern). OE Battle of Maldon (1942) 175 Nu ic ah, milde metod, mæste þearfe.c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 11815 Þatt i me sellf all ah itt wald.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 13825 Wit-stand his biding agh [a1400 Trin. Cambr. ow] i noght.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) 5145 Sir, bi þe faythe I aghe [a1400 Gött. aw] to ȝou, þai ar kniȝttes as I trow.a1425 (?c1350) Ywain & Gawain (1964) 720 I aw þe honore and servyse.a1789 R. Burns Ronalds of Bennals xv But devil a shilling I awe, man.1932 G. Wilson in Sc. National Dict. I. 104/3 I wid gie a' 'at a [= I] awe t' get 'er safe back again. β. early Middle English og, early Middle English oh, early Middle English ou, Middle English howe, Middle English ough, Middle English ouh, Middle English owene (perhaps transmission error), Middle English owȝe, Middle English–1600s ow, Middle English– owe, 1500s ove; N.E.D.(1904) also records forms early Middle English ohȝ, Middle English oȝ, Middle English ogh, Middle English oghe. c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 6369 Icholle wel þin mede ȝelde bi þe treuþe ich ou to þe.a1350 in K. Böddeker Altengl. Dichtungen (1878) 200 Iesu, þa ich sunful be..þe more oh ich to louie þe.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 10248 I am sua ful of sin Þat i na kirck agh [a1400 Trin. Cambr. owȝe; c1460 Laud ow] to cum in.a1450 Generides (Pierpont Morgan) (1865) 7422 I wil worship as I ow.c1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Life Man (Tiber.) 22676 I Schal synge with al my myght, And so I howe, off verrey ryght.1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 650/1 I owe dette.a1652 R. Brome Queenes Exchange (1657) v. i. sig. G^v I ow thee a just reward.1792 F. Burney Let. 12 Oct. (1972) I. 253 While I owe one Letter, I am always half in hope of owing another.1840 J. Pierpoint Airs of Palestine 20 (note) Perhaps I owe the apology to the reader.1930 E. Waugh Vile Bodies Epil. 249 Funny meeting you. I owe you some money.1993 L. Pemberton Platinum Coast 285 I think I owe you more than one drink after this morning. b. 2nd singular. α. Old English ahst, Old English aht (Northumbrian), early Middle English aȝest, early Middle English ahes, early Middle English ahest, early Middle English aust, early Middle English hahst, early Middle English hauste, Middle English agh (chiefly northern), Middle English aghe (chiefly northern), Middle English ahe (chiefly northern), Middle English au (chiefly northern), Middle English aw (chiefly northern), Middle English awe (chiefly northern); Scottish pre-1700 aw; N.E.D.(1904) also records a form early Middle English aȝes. OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. xviii. 28 Redde quod debes : geld þæt ðu aht to geldanne.OE Cynewulf Elene 725 Dryhten hælend, þu ðe ahst doma geweald, ond þu geworhtest þurh þines wuldres miht heofon ond eorðan ond holmþræce.a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 15 Heore uuel..þu aȝest to hetiene.a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 41 Ðu aust te folȝin ðane..onfald Iob.c1225 (?c1200) St. Juliana (Royal) 360 Ne ahestu nan habben.a1250 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Titus) (1940) 575 Þat tu ahes to don.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 23181 Þou agh [ed. ahe, a1400 Gött. au] to min.1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) ix. 753 Bow it as thou aw.a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1897–1973) 28 To luf me well thou awe.1597 A. Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae in Poems (1887) 44 Ȝe knaw, sir, ȝe aw, sir, To hald ȝe ay behind. β. Middle English houyste, Middle English howe, Middle English howis, Middle English ogh, Middle English oghe, Middle English owist, Middle English owust, Middle English owyst, Middle English 1600s–1700s ow, Middle English– owe, Middle English– owest (now archaic), 1600s– ow'st (now archaic). a1250 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Nero) (1952) 55 Ichulle nimen hit onward ðe dette ðet tu owest [c1230 Corpus Cambr. ahest ?c1225 Cleo. aȝest] me.c1390 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 141 And ȝif þou fele þe siker and sounde, Þonke þou þi god as þou wel owe.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 26965 Ne..Þi-self ogh sai bot soth o þe.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) 4589 Þerfore owe [a1400 Gött. au; a1400 Fairf. aghe] þou bi riȝt.1483 Vulgaria abs Terencio (T. Rood & T. Hunte) sig. oviii Do as thow owyst to do.1502 tr. Ordynarye of Crysten Men (de Worde) i. iii. sig. d.i Thou owest to meruayll & fere.1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xx. 106 Thou that owest me obedience.1752 G. G. Beekman Let. 12 Mar. in Beekman Mercantile Papers (1956) I. 141 I Received advice from Philidelphia that Mr. Vanderhyde Had Atteached Captain Hawkins Sloop for what you Ow him.1801 in A. H. Craufurd Gen. Craufurd & Light Div. (1891) 10 You owe it to yourself to prepare against this.1975 Newsweek (Nexis) 29 Dec. 57 Do it because you owe me one... I carried you for nine months. c. 3rd singular. (i). Original. α. Old English–early Middle English ag, Old English–early Middle English ah, early Middle English æh, early Middle English aȝc (perhaps transmission error), early Middle English ahg (perhaps transmission error), early Middle English auh, early Middle English awh, early Middle English hah, early Middle English (Middle English northern) ach, early Middle English (Middle English northern) aȝe, early Middle English (Middle English northern) agh, early Middle English (Middle English northern) aw, Middle English aȝ (chiefly northern), Middle English aghe (chiefly northern), Middle English au (chiefly northern), Middle English aue (chiefly northern), Middle English augh (chiefly northern), Middle English awe (chiefly northern), Middle English awez (chiefly northern), Middle English haw (chiefly northern), Middle English hawe (chiefly northern); Scottish pre-1700 au, pre-1700 aw, pre-1700 awe. OE Andreas (1932) 518 Ah him lifes geweald, se ðe brimu bindeð, brune yða ðyð ond þreatað.OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xxiv. 47 Ofer eall þæt he ah [c1200 Hatton ag] he hyne gesett.a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 17 Ne noman ne agh werne þanne me him for nede þar to bit.a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 139 Reuerenda est nobis hec dies sancta..Muchel man ach to wurþen þis halie dei.a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 139 Sunnedei ah efri..Mon..to chirche cume.a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 35 Ðat god ðat he aw te donne.a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 45 Hlesteð hwat ðe hlauerd seið, ðe ðat scip auh.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 6727 For þes king æh al þis lond.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 267 Coursur of þe werld men au [a1400 Vesp. aght] it call.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 4380 He aue to thinck apon þe ending.?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1872) IV. 461 A man awe not to departe.a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) ix. xii. 51 He that aw this swerd. β. early Middle English oc, early Middle English og, Middle English hogh, Middle English oȝ, Middle English oȝe, Middle English ogh, Middle English oghe, Middle English oh, Middle English oughe, Middle English ouh, Middle English ow, Middle English owȝe, Middle English (1800s– English regional (Suffolk)) owe; N.E.D.(1904) also records forms early Middle English ohȝ, early Middle English ou. a1200 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Trin. Cambr.) 2 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 220 Mi wit oh to be more.a1200 (?OE) MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 155 Ech sunedai..in chirche..al chirche folc ohg to ben gadered.a1200 (?OE) MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 189 Þat ilke wei ogh al mankin to holden þe þencheð to cumene to gode.a1250 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Nero) (1952) 28 Þet he ouh to siggen.a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) 250 Ne oȝ ur non oðer to sunen.?c1335 in W. Heuser Kildare-Gedichte (1904) 138 Þe wreche was hard that ow þe gode.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) 9686 Hit owȝe tried to be.?1490 W. Caxton Rule St. Benet (1902) 139 He owe to fall downe prosstrate.c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 5357 Bryng me to berenes on þi best wise..And honour me with obit as ogh myn astate.1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words 263 ‘Hue owe that there hoss?’ ‘Mr. Johnson he owe it.’1895 J. J. Raven Hist. Suffolk 260 Mr. Smith owe that there little farm now. (ii). New formation. α. Old English agæþ (rare), Old English agæð (rare), Old English ageð (rare), early Middle English aȝæð, early Middle English ahð, early Middle English auþ, early Middle English haheð, Middle English awes, Middle English aweþ, Middle English awiþ, Middle English aws, Middle English awthe, Middle English haht, 1800s aas (English regional (Cumberland)); Scottish 1800s aws, 1800s– aas (Orkney), 1800s– awes, 1900s– aa's (northern). eOE Royal Psalter: Canticles vii. 6 Hic ipse pater tuus possedit te : þes se fæder ðin ageð ðe.c1200 ( West Saxon Gospels: Luke (Hatton) xi. 21 Þonne beoð on sibbe þa þing þe he ahð [OE Corpus Cambr. ah].a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 9636 Dede he aws to thole for-þi.c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 30 Awiþ he not to blessiþ þe peple?1486 Bk. St. Albans sig. aij^v As she awthe to be.1816 W. Scott Old Mortality in Tales of my Landlord IV. iv. 87 Lord Evandale awes ye a day in ha'arst.1898 Shetland News 18 Dec. Gibbie aws da half o' him wi' mi midder.1920 J. Firth Reminisc. Orkney Parish 158 He that aas the coo lies neist the tail. β. early Middle English howeð, early Middle English oget, Middle English howet, Middle English howeth, Middle English howith, Middle English howyth, Middle English oȝet, Middle English oȝeþ, Middle English oghþ, Middle English oȝþ, Middle English oowyht, Middle English ouhyt, Middle English ouyth, Middle English ovyth, Middle English oweht, Middle English owet, Middle English oweþ, Middle English owez, Middle English owiþ, Middle English owith, Middle English owithe, Middle English owyt, Middle English owyþ, Middle English owyth, Middle English woyyt (transmission error), Middle English–1700s ows, Middle English– owes, Middle English– oweth (now archaic), 1800s oa's (English regional (Cumberland)). c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 1730 He bið vnworð & lah, þe mon þe litul ah [c1300 Otho oȝeþ].a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 324 Quat oget nu ðat forbode o-wold?1340 Ayenbite (1866) 9 Þis heste ous uorbyet to nimene..oþre manne þing..be wyckede skele, aye þe wyl of him þet hit oȝþ. ▸ a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Eccles. xi. 8 He owith to han mynde of the derke tyme.1390 in J. Foxe Actes & Monuments (1570) I. 557/1 No B. owes to let a true priest.a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) 954 Pray we..to oure lady þat owyþ þys day.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 6161 Þis owes [a1400 Trin. Cambr. oweþ] euer to be in mind.?a1475 Ludus Coventriae (1922) 89 To whom þe mayd howyth to be maryed.1530–1 Act 22 Hen. VIII c. 12 Lyke as a trewe man oweth to do.1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets lxxix. sig. F^v What he owes thee.1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxx. 181 The debt, that every man oweth the Common-Wealth for his defence.1775 J. Watson Hist. Halifax 544 He owes an house.a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) 240 Mr. Brown owes that farm.1900 W. Dickinson & E. W. Prevost Gloss. Dial. Cumberland (rev. ed.) 229/1 Who oa's this?1976 Forbes (Nexis) 1 Dec. 61 These people better get themselves together... They seem to think the world owes them a living. d. Plural α. Old English agan, Old English agað (rare), Old English age (before personal pronoun), Old English agon, Old English agun, Old English–early Middle English agen, Old English (rare)–early Middle English ageð, late Old English ægon, early Middle English aȝæð, early Middle English age, early Middle English aȝen, early Middle English aȝeð, early Middle English agum, early Middle English ahen, early Middle English aweð, early Middle English haigen, Middle English ach (chiefly northern), Middle English aȝe (chiefly northern), Middle English agh (chiefly northern), Middle English aghe (chiefly northern), Middle English ah (chiefly northern), Middle English au (chiefly northern), Middle English aue (chiefly northern), Middle English augh (chiefly northern), Middle English aw (chiefly northern), Middle English awe (chiefly northern), Middle English az (chiefly northern), Middle English hach (chiefly northern), Middle English hagh (chiefly northern); Scottish pre-1700 au, pre-1700 aw, pre-1700 awe. OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) v. 5 Eadige synt þa liðan, forþam þe hi eorðan agun.a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 41 Swo we ageð to don.a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 57 We agen to cumen.a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 35 Swo aweð to donne alle.c1225 (?c1200) Sawles Warde (Bodl.) (1938) 2 Hu we ahen wearliche to biwiten us seoluen.1389 in J. T. Smith & L. T. Smith Eng. Gilds (1870) 39 Þei shullen makyn..no preiudice don to no maner man, be þe feyth þat þei owen to god and þe ligeaunce þat þei awe to oure lord þe kyng.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Coll. Phys.) 23824 We ah it noht to hald in were.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 11618 Þe lauerd agh [a1400 Gött. aue, a1400 Trin. Cambr. owe, L. ow] yee worthli to lufe.a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) ii. 4 Wele aghe we to brek thaire bandis of couatis & ill dred.a1500 Lancelot of Laik (1870) 3447 Yhe aw to be commendit.1552 Abp. J. Hamilton Catech. Tabil sig. .i The trew seruice..quhilk we aw to him.1588 A. King tr. P. Canisius Cathechisme or Schort Instr.* 57 Sa we au faith..to the kirk. β. early Middle English ogen, early Middle English ohg, early Middle English owgie, Middle English howe, Middle English howen, Middle English oen, Middle English oȝen, Middle English oȝeð, Middle English oghe, Middle English ohen, Middle English oon, Middle English oþe, Middle English ouh, Middle English ouwe, Middle English owen, Middle English oweþ, Middle English oweth, Middle English owin, Middle English owiþ, Middle English own, Middle English owy, Middle English owyn, Middle English–1600s ow, Middle English– owe, 1700s ough; N.E.D.(1904) also records a form late Middle English owne. a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 57 Alse we oȝen to don.c1200 Incipits & Explicits in H. Wanley Catal. Librorum Septentrionalium (1705) 233 Muchel we owgie to wurðienne þisne dei þæt is Sunne icliped, for hit is Godes ogie dei.a1225 (?OE) MS Vesp. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 235 Ure king we oȝeð wrhmint.a1250 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Nero) (1952) 68 Uor þi owen þe gode..to habben witnesse.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) 12531 He wilneð al, and ich wilni al þæt wit beiene aȝæð [c1300 Otho oweþ].c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) 25319 Þat we oweþ cleane.?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 313 Þe whilk ȝe salle & ouh, to maynten with me.?c1430 (a1400) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 197 Þei owen to use þis doynge in mesure and reson.1444 Rolls of Parl. V. 124/2 Item, that the seid Baillifs..do..to bring or make bringe to the hondes of the seid vi men all maner rentz, revenuz, fines and othur profites that cometh or oweth to come to the commune profit.?a1450 (?c1400) Lay Folks' Catech. (Lamb.) (1901) 61 We owe to loue oure euyn-cristyn.1473 Rolls of Parl. VI. 86/1 The which vi marcs, the seid Priour..and his successours..owyn to pay.1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 280 This childlike feare, which is vnseparably ioined with the true loue we owe to our common father.1647 A. Cowley Sleep in Mistress ii All my too much Moysture ow.1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 60. ¶3 It was to this Age that we owe the Production of Anagrams.1849 J. D. Dana U.S. Exploring Exped.: Geol. (1850) viii. 439 They owe their appearance..to a silico-ferruginous solution.1988 K. Amis Difficulties with Girls vii. 86 We owe them a drink anyway, don't we? 3. Past indicative. (i). Original: see ought v. (ii). New formation. α. Middle English awede, Middle English owede, Middle English owet (northern), Middle English owid, Middle English owyde, Middle English owyt (Irish English), Middle English wowid, Middle English– owed, 1600s ow'de, 1600s owd'st (2nd singular), 1600s owedst (2nd singular), 1600s–1700s ow'd; English regional 1800s– awed (Yorkshire), 1800s– ewet (Lincolnshire); Scottish 1800s aw'd, 1900s– aad (northern), 1900s– awed; N.E.D.(1904) also records a form late Middle English owyd. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) 14045 Wheþer owed to loue him bettur þo.1572 R. Harrison tr. L. Lavater Of Ghostes ii. x. 147 This man y^t owed y^e apparel.a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) iii. iii. 337 That sweete sleepe, Which thou owedst yesterday.1627 T. May tr. Lucan Pharsalia (1631) v. 18 The man that ow'd, and kept This boate.1735 T. Sheridan Let. 16 July in Swift's Lett. (1768) IV. 102 I cleared off the rent which I owed him.1801 J. Strutt Glig-gamena Angel-ðeod Introd. §3. 3 He owed his knowledge of letters to accident.1932 G. Wilson in Sc. National Dict. I. 105/1 She ees't t' boast 'at she awed nae man a saxpence.1987 Risks Digest (ACM Forum) (Electronic text) 31 Oct. The standard database check found the still unpurged record of my first entry and computed that I owed for 9 days. β. English regional (chiefly East Anglian) 1800s– ew, 1800s– ewe, 1800s– owe. 1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words 120 He ewe me five pound.1895 J. J. Raven Hist. Suffolk xix. 260 I thought they ew [owed] us five pounds, but it turned out that we ew them ten.a1903 C. G. de Betham in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1903) IV. 394/1 [Suffolk] I never ewe anyone anything. 4. Past participle. (i). Original α. Old English agen (see own adj.), Middle English owyn, 1500s oune, 1500s–1800s owen; English regional 1800s own (East Anglian), 1800s– awen (Yorkshire), 1800s– awn (Yorkshire); Scottish 1900s– aan; N.E.D.(1904) also records a form late Middle English owen. ?1460–4 R. Williamson in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 18 I..haue owyn to your person ryght herty love.1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Si^v/2 Oune, debitus.1642 J. Spelman View of Observ. upon His Majesties Late Answers 9 The King the supreame head..unto whom a body politique..been bounden and owen next to God.1642 J. Spelman View of Observ. upon His Majesties Late Answers 9 Bounden and owen to beare..obedience.1803 W. Taylor in J. W. Robberds Mem. W. Taylor (1843) I. 458 I have owen him a letter still longer. β. See ought v. (ii). New formation. α. Middle English owid, Middle English owyd, Middle English– owed, 1500s oughed, 1500s owd, 1600s–1700s ow'd. ▸ a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) Num. vi. 17 He shal offre apesyble hoost to þe lord, offrynge..sacrefysys of lycours þat of manere been owed [L. debentur].?a1425 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. iv. pr. v. 102 Tormentz of laweful peynes ben rather owed to felonus citezeins.a1643 W. Cartwright Ordinary (1651) iii. iii. 42 All broken sleeps are ow'd Only to you.1717 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad III. ix. 827 Strength consists in Spirits and in Blood, And those are ow'd to gen'rous Wine and Food.1841 W. Spalding Italy & Ital. Islands II. 402 Landscape-painting..may be said to have owed its origin to Titian.1913 Law Rep. King's Bench Div. 1 410 More care, though not much, is owed to a licensee.1978 A. S. Byatt Virgin in Garden iii. xxxiv. 310 Lucas had fed and lectured and admired him: something was owed in return. β. English regional (Suffolk) 1900s– ewe. a1903 F. Hall in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1903) IV. 394/1 [East Suffolk] Ewe. 5. With negative particle affixed. Old English nagon, Old English naht, Old English–early Middle English nah, early Middle English naȝen, early Middle English naȝest, early Middle English naust, early Middle English nouh, early Middle English nowen, early Middle English nowest, early Middle English noweþ, early Middle English nowth; see also ought v.OE West Saxon Gospels: John (Corpus Cambr.) x. 12 Se hyra se þe nis hyrde, & se þe nah þa sceap, þonne he þone wulf gesyhþ þonne flyhð he.?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 278 Ȝe ne achȝe [a1250 Nero nowen; c1230 Corpus ahen; a1250 Titus ahen] naut to unnen þet uuel wort beo of ow.a1250 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Nero) (1952) 115 Ȝif þe ueond bloweð bitweonen ou eni wreð–ðe..er heo beo wel i set, nouh non uorte nimen godes flesch & his blod.a1250 Lofsong Louerde in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 215 Þu nowest none mon nowitht þurh his of-seruunge. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian āga , Old Saxon ēgan , Middle Dutch eigen , Old High German eigan (Middle High German eigen ), Old Icelandic eiga , Old Swedish ägha (Swedish äga ), Danish eje , Gothic aigan (one of the original Germanic preterite-present verbs: see can v.¹, dare v.¹, dow v.¹, may v.¹) < the same Indo-European base (with a different ablaut grade) as Sanskrit īś- to possess, own.In English owe has undergone much change both of form and sense. The original preteritive inflection of the present tense began in Old English to be supplanted by the normal present tense inflections, and in modern English the tense is entirely thus levelled (compare Forms 2). The Old English past tense āhte , Middle English ahte , ohte , survives as ought v. (compare forms at that entry), which before 1200 began to be used (in the subjunctive) with an indefinite and hence present signification, in a special sense, and thus gradually came to be in use as a distinct verb; its function as past tense of owe is supplied from the late 14th cent. by owed (compare Forms 3). The original past participle in all the Germanic languages became an adjective, of which the modern English form is own adj.; for persistence of this form as a past participle see Forms 4(i). A later past participle ought , aucht , conformed to the original past tense, first appears in late Middle English and in Older Scots: see ought v. 1a(c), 3a(b), 4a(b). The current past participle of owe v. is owed , which first appears in the late 14th cent., so that the whole verb has now the ordinary weak conjugation. The change of signification from ‘to have’ to ‘to owe’ can be traced in the presentation of the senses below. The original sense ‘to have, possess, own’ (see branch I.) is still current in some dialects, which use forms of owe in the sense ‘to own’, and have not entirely lost the connection of owe and ought . In branches I.** and II. it replaces senses more usually expressed in Old English, as in the other Germanic languages, by shall v. This apparently originates in the Old English phrase āgan to gieldenne (see sense 2), with accusative and inflected infinitive, in sense ‘to have (something) to pay’ shading imperceptibly into ‘to have to pay (something)’; first attested in the Northumbrian gloss to the Lindisfarne Gospels, rendering Latin dēbēre (where the Mercian gloss to the Rushworth Gospels, like the later West Saxon Gospels, uses sculan ). Senses 3a and 6a represent a wider development of this. (See also ought v. 2, 7; and compare have v. VII.) Shall gradually ceased to have the sense ‘owe’, retained that of obligation with a weaker force, and became mainly an auxiliary of the future tense; while owe , in taking ‘to be obliged to pay’ as its main sense, has in Standard English lost that of ‘to have’, or passed it to the cognate own v., which shares it with have v. and such Romance synonyms as possess v. In Old English the prefixed form geāgan is also attested. I. As a main verb. * In senses expressing possession. 1. a. transitive. To have belonging to oneself; to possess; to be the owner of; = own v. 1. Now chiefly Scottish, esp. Irish English (northern).For illustration of the original past tense see ought v. 1. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > owning > own [verb (transitive)] ownOE oweOE i-ahniec1000 ought1442 belong1921 OE Guthlac A 273 Bi hwon scealt þu lifgan, þeah þu lond age? OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xiii. 44 Se man..sylþ eall þæt he ah & gebigþ þone æcer. a1225 ( Ælfric's Homily De Duodecim Abusivis (Lamb. 487) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 103 Ira, þet is on englisc, wemodnesse..deð þet þe mon ne ah his modes iwald. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 6725 For þes king æh al þis lond. c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 8890 (MED) Ne let me nomon owe, Bote he abbe an tuo name. c1390 G. Chaucer Pardoner's Tale 361 If that the goode man that the bestes oweth [v.rr. awe, owe, oughe, Oowyht] Wol..drynken..a draughte..Hise bestes and his stoor shal multiplie. a1475 J. Fortescue Governance of Eng. (Laud) (1885) 136 (MED) To some parte þeroff the eyres off thaim þat some tyme owed it be restored. a1500 (?a1390) J. Mirk Festial (Gough) (1905) 171 (MED) A man doþ worschip to þe kyngis sele, not for loue of þe sele, but for reuerence of þe man þat owet hit. 1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. MMvi He that of very right owed the cappe. ?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads xxiii. 316 The horse The gods bred, and Adrastus ow'd. 1628 T. Spencer Art of Logick 117 The Oxe..knowes who owes him, and feedes him. 1664 S. Pepys Diary 12 July (1971) V. 202 Fine storehouses..but of no great profit to him that oweth them. 1775 J. Watson Hist. Halifax 544 He owes an house. 1800 Aurora (Philadelphia) 5 Dec. 2/3 America owes not a citizen more fitted than col. Burr, to be placed at the head of her government. 1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words 263 ‘Hue owe that there hoss?’ ‘Mr. Johnson he owe it.’ 1858 Ulster Jrnl. Archæol. 6 41 Lord help the poor woman that owes you. a1903 in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1903) IV. 394/1 [Norfolk] The man owes several cottages. 1923 G. Watson Roxburghshire Word-bk. 44 Whae awes this? 1953 M. Traynor Eng. Dial. Donegal 205/1 The man that owes the corn, owes the horn, i.e. he can do what he likes with what belongs to him. 1996 C. I. Macafee Conc. Ulster Dict. 243/2 Who owes ye?..to a child who do you belong to? †b. transitive. To take or gain possession of; = own v. 2. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > acquisition > obtain or acquire [verb (transitive)] wieldeOE haveeOE ofgoOE oweOE addlec1175 winc1175 avela1200 to come by ——a1225 covera1250 oughtc1275 reachc1275 hentc1300 purchasec1300 to come to ——c1330 getc1330 pickc1330 chevise1340 fang1340 umbracec1350 chacche1362 perceivea1382 accroacha1393 achievea1393 to come at ——a1393 areach1393 recovera1398 encroach?a1400 chevec1400 enquilec1400 obtainc1422 recurec1425 to take upc1425 acquirea1450 encheve1470 sortise1474 conques?a1500 tain1501 report1508 conquest1513 possess1526 compare1532 cough1550 coff1559 fall1568 reap1581 acquist1592 accrue1594 appurchasec1600 recoil1632 to get at ——1666 to come into ——1672 rise1754 net1765 to fall in for1788 to scare up1846 access1953 OE tr. Defensor Liber Scintillarum (1969) ii. 14 Dicit in patientia uestra possidebitis animas uestras : he segð on geþylde eowrum ge agað sawla eowre. lOE Homily (Faust. A.ix) in R. Willard Two Apocrypha in Old Eng. Homilies (1935) 40 Gif þa deofla ongytað þæt hi agan þa sawle, þonne blissiað hy, and þa englas beoð swyþe unrote. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) 14186 Þe feond hine aȝe! c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 1188 (MED) Þe deuel him hawe! c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 1292 (MED) I bigan denemark for to awe. a1500 (?a1325) Otuel & Roland (1935) 275 (MED) Y was neuer pale ne wan..so god my soule owe. †c. transitive. To acknowledge, esp. as belonging to oneself; = own v. 3b. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > statement > acknowledgement, avowal, or confession > acknowledge, avow, or confess [verb (intransitive)] > acknowledge as one's own owec1300 owna1616 c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) 9269 Ȝef he nolde þis owe and of his gult beo cnowe, þe king him wolde after and don al his mihte. a1400 Siege Jerusalem (Laud) (1932) 784 (MED) Or I wende fro þis walle, ȝe schul wordes schewe & efte spakloker speke or y ȝour speche owene. c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 8956 The ost for to honour & agh hym as lord And his alligiaunce to loute, liked hom all. 1617 G. Wither Abuses Stript (rev. ed.) i. viii. 96 Their forefathers..would not knowe If they were living, or for shame not owe them. 1622 E. Misselden Free Trade 30 Him that wrote a little treatise..which it seemes for modesty he refuseth to owe. d. transitive. Scottish and English regional (northern). As past participle in who's owe: who owns. Cf. ought v. 1a(c).See further J. A. H. Murray Dial. S. Counties Scotl. (1873) 193 and Sc. National Dict. at Awe v.¹ ΚΠ 1568 in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS f. 143a Sone scho sayit, Quhois aw ȝone man? 1873 J. A. H. Murray Dial. S. Counties Scotl. 193 Quheae was aa thys hoose afuore yee bowcht it? 1890 Leeds Mercury Weekly Suppl. 20 Dec. Weäse owe they tweä kye? 1923 G. Watson Roxburghshire Word-bk. 44 Whae's awe this? 1928 A. E. Pease Dict. Dial. N. Riding. Yorks. 91/1 Wheea's aw this yan?..Wheeas aw yon bairn? †2. transitive. to owe (something) to yield: to have (something) to pay. Obsolete.In later use merged in sense 6a (see note in etymology above). ΚΠ OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Matt. xviii. 28 Redde quod debes : geld þæt ðu aht to geldanne [OE Rushw. scealt, OE Corpus Cambr. scealt, c1200 Hatton. scelt]. OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Luke xvi. 5 Quantum debes domino meo : huu micel aht ðu to geldanne hlaferde minum? [OE Corpus Cambr. scealt þu minum hlaforde]. OE Ælfric Homily (Trin. Cambr. B.15.34) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1968) II. 552 Hwæt ahst þu to gyldenne? c1175 ( Ælfric Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 39 Ælc mon eornestlice ah to ȝeldene sum þing. ** In senses expressing debt. 3. a. transitive. To be required or obliged to pay or repay (money, etc.), esp. in return for something received; to be indebted to the amount of; to be or feel under an obligation to render (obedience, allegiance, etc.); to be or feel under an obligation to give (a drink, an apology, etc., in return for some action). Usually with indirect object or to (also unto).In quot. OE at α. forms the word geldanne is to be understood after to (cf. sense 6a).For illustration of the past tense in earlier form see ought v. 3. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > management of money > insolvency > indebtedness > owe [verb (transitive)] shallc975 owec1175 ought1483 behove1496 rest1503 tick1674 to run up1684 ought1822 OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Luke xvi. 7 Quantum debes : huu feolo aht ðu to? [OE Corpus Cambr. scealt þu].] c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 16529 Ȝiff þu litell dost forr godd Godd ah þe litell mede. 1258 Proclam. Henry III in Trans. Philol. Soc. (1868–9) 19 (MED) And we hoaten alle vre treowe in þe treowþe þæt heo vs oȝen. c1330 in T. Wright Polit. Songs Eng. (1839) 332 (MED) Bi the feith I owe to God, if the cors is lene, He wole wagge aboute the cloistre. c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Luke xvi. 5 Hou moche owist [L. debes] thou to my lord? a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) 5905 The marchaunt owith [Fr. doit] thee right nought. 1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope vii He is wyse that payeth that that he oweth of ryght. a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1546) sig. H.viij^v The people owe obedyence to the prynce. 1588 A. King tr. P. Canisius Cathechisme or Schort Instr. 38 In it chyldrene ar taucht quhat thay aw vnto thair parents. a1641 R. Montagu Acts & Monuments (1642) 93 They owe him no leigance, nor obedience. 1670 Earl of Clarendon Ess. in Tracts (1727) 137 The communicative duty which we owe to our brethren. 1735 T. Sheridan Let. 16 July in Swift's Lett. (1768) IV. 102 I cleared off the rent which I owed him. 1792 T. Holcroft Anna St. Ives II. xxi. 152 I owed a fellow servant a guinea and a half, which I had borrowed to buy shirts and stockings. 1840 J. Pierpoint Airs of Palestine 20 (note) Perhaps I owe the apology to the reader. 1879 J. A. Froude Cæsar xviii. 301 He already owed half a million of money. 1930 E. Waugh Vile Bodies Epil. 249 Funny meeting you. I owe you some money. 1978 A. S. Byatt Virgin in Garden iii. xxxiv. 310 Lucas had fed and lectured and admired him: something was owed in return. 2003 Sunday Tel. (Sydney) (Nexis) 6 Apr. t8 By the way, you still owe me 20 Fijian dollars. b. intransitive. To be indebted, be in debt. Now chiefly with for. Cf. owing adj. 1.In quot. 1455 with passive sense.For illustration of the past tense in earlier form see ought v. 3b. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > management of money > insolvency > indebtedness > be in debt [verb (intransitive)] owe1455 oughta1464 to be indebted1601 outstand1729 1455 Paston Lett. (1904) III. 58 The seyd Fastolf ys yhyt owyng for his porcion and part for the recompens and reward that shuld grow and be dewe to hym. 1482 in J. P. Collier Househ. Bks. John Duke of Norfolk & Thomas Earl of Surrey (1844) 174 Item, Gante is owing for another day with his tomberel. 1607 T. Heywood Woman Kilde with Kindnesse sig. G2 I haue nothing, nothing, left, I owe euen for the clothes vpon my backe. 1705 B. Mandeville Grumbling Hive 4 No Honour now could be content, To live, and owe for what was spent. a1784 S. Jenyns Wks. (1790) I. 174 At shops all round I owe for fifty things. 1865 J. W. Carlyle Lett. III. 285 I owed for my summer bonnet and cloak. 1987 Risks Digest (ACM Forum) (Electronic text) 31 Oct. The standard database check found the still unpurged record of my first entry and computed that I owed for 9 days. c. transitive. To be indebted to, be under an obligation to (a person). Cf. ought v. 3c. ΚΠ 1836 C. M. Sedgwick Poor Rich Man & Rich Poor Man xviii. 159 She under-rented two rooms of me, and went away owing me. 1894 Outing 24 256/1 She says she owes me for the preservation of her life on the island. 1904 Westm. Gaz. 29 Sept. (Special ed.) 5/2 Here is a woman who owes everybody, and by the death of this girl she draws thirty pounds. 1970 ‘E. Queen’ Last Woman ii. 135 ‘She'll come’, Newly said grimly. ‘After that yarn of hers, she owes me.’ 1998 Buffalo (N.Y.) News (Nexis) 25 June 3 b Customers who owe the house can be chained in the stacks until they pay up. d. transitive. Sport. To be under an obligation to give an opponent (a number of strokes, points, etc.) as a handicap. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > winning, losing, or scoring > win, lose, or score [verb (transitive)] > owe handicap points owe1904 1904 J. P. Paret Lawn Tennis 345 Owe-fifteen (thirty or forty), a term used in handicap play to indicate that one player must make one (fifteen), two (thirty), or three (forty) points in each game before he begins to score. 1908 Daily Chron. 24 Aug. 9/3 Mr. F. Scarf..owing one stroke, beat Mr. R. C. Oppenheimer,..(handicap 15), by 7 holes up and 5 to play. 1922 Times 16 Sept. 4/4 The principle of the handicap is weight for age; according to this a man of forty-one would owe thirty to a man of seventy, receiving thirty. 2001 Times Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) (Nexis) 25 May c1 Slower boats have higher handicap numbers, therefore more time is owed to them at the end of the race by faster boats. 4. a. transitive. To have or cherish towards another (a feeling, regarded as something yet to be put into action); to bear (good or ill will). Now chiefly in to owe a grudge.For earlier past tense see ought v. 4a. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > emotional attitude > hold, entertain, or cherish (a feeling) [verb (transitive)] > entertain a feeling towards to look on ——lOE owea1375 to look upon ——c1405 the world > action or operation > behaviour > reciprocal treatment or return of an action > treat one as he has been treated [verb (transitive)] > requite or pay back (a person) > be due to requite owea1375 oughtc1430 a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 2675 I beseche & preie fo[r] loue þat ȝe owe to þe lord, þat let ȝou be fourmed. c1390 G. Chaucer Parson's Tale I. 746 Auarice..dooth wrong to Iesu Crist, for it bireueth hym the loue that men to hym owen. c1460–4 Paston Lett. (1976) ii. 18 I..haue owyn to your person ryght herty love. 1461 M. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 271 He told me þat he felt by hem þat they wold owe yow ryth good wyll so þat ye wold owe hem good wyll. c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) lxx. 240 Ye do me greate wronge to owe me youre yll wyll. 1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. lxx To whom the Cardinall did not owe the best fauor. 1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 209 They..will wait two or three houres for some to whom they owe some speciall grudge, to bestow their curse vpon him. 1657 Lusts Dominion iv. i. sig. E4^v All that love Which by innative duty I did owe her. 1707 J. Shirley Triumph of Wit (ed. 5) 203 There stands Jack Ketch, that Son of a Bitch, that owes us all a grudge. 1726 J. Swift Gulliver I. ii. i. 19 Being afraid the Boy might owe me a spight. 1742 H. Fielding Joseph Andrews II. iv. iii. 188 They are..a Scandal to a Profession..which owes to such kind of Rascallions the Ill-will which weak Persons bear towards it. View more context for this quotation 1811 J. Austen Sense & Sensibility III. xiii. 263 I can safely say I owe you no ill-will. View more context for this quotation 1894 ‘M. Twain’ Pudd'nhead Wilson xx. 273 I owe them no good will, considering the brunette one's treatment of me that night. 1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage lviii. 298 She seemed to be constantly humiliating him, and for each snub that he endured he owed her a grudge. 1943 S. H. Bell Summer Loanen 60 ‘Naw, I will not,’ laughed Davie, ‘I owe ye no grudge.’ 1992 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 16 May 9 Personally I owe Souness no ill will. I hope he makes a complete recovery from his operation. †b. transitive. figurative. To have or bear to a person or thing (a relation which must be acknowledged). Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > relationship > relate to [verb (transitive)] haveeOE toucha1325 to have respect to (formerly also unto)a1398 connex?1541 report1548 bear1556 respect1614 to stand to ——1634 owe1644 connect1751 to tie in1958 1644 H. Parker Jus Populi 59 Monarchy and Aristocracy are derivative forms and owe a dependance on Democracy. 1661 J. Glanvill Vanity of Dogmatizing xii. 116 They owe no other dependence to the first, then what is common to the whole Syntax of beings. 1855 J. L. Motley Rise Dutch Republic I. i. iii. 207 There was nothing in his character or purposes which owed affinity with any mood of this jocund and energetic people. 5. figurative. a. transitive. To have to ascribe or attribute (something) to, or acknowledge as derived from (some person or thing); to have, as received from or caused by some person or thing; to be indebted or beholden for. With to (in early use with indirect object).For the earlier past tense see ought v. 5. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > causation > attribution or assignment of cause > assign to a cause [verb (transitive)] > attribute something to someone owe1709 1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. iii. 79 But th' Earth, not onely th' Ocean debter is For these large Seas: But sh' owes him Tanais [etc.]. 1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xi. 94 Thou owest the worme no silke, the beast no hide. View more context for this quotation 1709 A. Pope Chaucer's January & May in Poet. Misc.: 6th Pt. 181 Abusive Nabal ow'd his forfeit Life To the wise Conduct of a prudent Wife. 1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 60. ¶3 It was to this Age that we owe the Production of Anagrams. 1761 tr. C. Batteux Course Belles Lettres II. ii. Art. iii. xv. 154 If Homer enchants us, we owe the satisfaction wholly to the beauty of the things. 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague iii. i. 325 I owe my life to thee. 1868 J. N. Lockyer Elem. Lessons Astron. (1879) vi. 228 We owe the discovery of the prismatic spectrum to Sir Isaac Newton. 1920 A. Carnegie Autobiogr. xi. 150 It was to Madam Botta I owed my election to membership. 1986 P. Bailey Gabriel's Lament vii. 136 To what do I owe this unexpected honour? †b. intransitive. To acknowledge as the basis or reason for an event or circumstance. Obsolete. rare. ΚΠ 1619 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher King & No King i. sig. A4 I thinke we owe thy feare for our victorie. †c. intransitive. To be obliged or beholden to a person or thing (for something). Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > gratitude > give thanks [verb (intransitive)] > be obliged to be obliged1552 owe1638 1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients 46 Accurate Artificers..owe more unto Doctrine than unto Nature. 1653 A. Marvell Let. 28 July in Poems & Lett. (1971) II. 304 In this both he and I ow infinitely to your Lordship. 1686 tr. J. Chardin Trav. Persia 93 Others assert, That they owe for their knowledge of Christianity to one Cyril. †II. As a modal auxiliary. 6. To have as a duty; to be under an obligation (to do something).For the past tense, see ought v. 6. Cf. also owing adj. 1. See also note in etymology above. a. With to and infinitive. = ought v. 7a(a). Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > morality > duty or obligation > [verb (intransitive)] haveeOE oweOE byrc1175 needc1395 busc1400 had needa1425 behovec1475 fall1681 note1789 ought1816 oughta1840 society > morality > duty or obligation > [verb (transitive)] > have (a duty) > owe (a duty) oweOE shallc1325 oughtc1520 OE Ælfric Homily (Trin. Cambr. B.15.34) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1968) II. 505 Þa men sceolon styran þe to styrene agon, þæt syndon þa witan, þe ðone wisdom habbað and fram Gode þone anweald. OE Wulfstan Institutes of Polity (Junius) 142 Þonne agan weofodðenas to smeagenne symble, þæt hi huruðinga heora lif fadian, swa swa to cyrcan gebyrige mid rihte. a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 57 Alse we ogen to don. a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 21 (MED) Swilcne lauerd we aȝen to dreden. 1387–8 Petition London Mercers in R. W. Chambers & M. Daunt Bk. London Eng. (1931) 37 We mowe shewe vs & sith ben holden suche trewe [men] to hym as we ben & owe to ben. a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) 836 (MED) Þe seruyng man..Oweþ to come when he haþ leysere. ?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1869) II. 293 Thei awe to be namede raþer Agarenes. 1496–7 Act 12 Hen. VII c. 12 §4 Yf any of the Collectours..reare more somme than..owe to be areared in or upon any Toun. 1534 T. More Treat. Passion in Wks. 1314/1 You owe also one to weshe an others fete. 1537 Let. 3 Oct. in Remains (1833) I. 211 As obedient..as a true Christian oweth to be. 1598 Chaucers Dreame in T. Speght Wks. G. Chaucer f. 361^v/2 Forgotten was no thing That owe to be done. b. With bare infinitive. = ought v. 7a(b). Obsolete. ΚΠ OE Homily: Sermo ad Populum Dominicis Diebus (Lamb. 489) in A. S. Napier Wulfstan (1883) 294 Man ah seoce men to geneosianne and deade bebyrian. a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 53 (MED) Nu age we alle and al cristene folc nime forbisne after þat israelisshe folc. a1250 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 7 (MED) Seynte marie..Ich ouh wurðie ðe mid alle mine mihte. a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 15 Cristene men ogen ben so fagen So fueles arn quan he it sen dagen, Ðan man hem telled soðe tale. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 5104 (MED) All your bidding Agh be til vs als comanding. 1524 King Henry VIII Let. to Pace in J. Strype Eccl. Memorials (1724) I. ii. App. xiii. 28 They shuld & owe, not oonely forbere to geve ayde. 1543 ( Chron. J. Hardyng (1812) 368 As prysoners owe home agayn repeire. 7. impersonal. With person affected as indirect object. me owe (or oweth): it befits me, it is due or proper to me; it behoves me, I ought. Obsolete.For the past tense see ought v. 8. ΘΚΠ society > morality > duty or obligation > [verb (transitive)] birc950 oughtOE behovec1175 dowa1225 liea1225 owea1250 it stands one upona1393 liea1400 busc1400 hovec1450 to stand (a person) in (also on) handc1555 import1561 stand1602 befit1604 to stand on ——1608 to lie with1885 a1250 Lofsong Lefdi (Nero) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 205 Ich bide þe and biseche þe and halsi ȝif me howeð [v.r. haheð] hit. a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) 231 Ðe hertes hauen anoðer kinde, Ðat us oȝ alle to ben minde. a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1959) Exod. xxi. 13 I schall ordeyne to þe aplace whiþer hym awe to flee. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) 18791 Wele vs agh to loue him. c1429 Mirour Mans Saluacioune (1986) l. 4510 Hym awe serue and luf Godde with his hert alle & somme. a1450 York Plays (1885) 187 Full glad and blithe awe vs to be. c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 5357 Bryng me to berenes on þi best wise..And honour me with obit as ogh myn astate. Phrases P1. to owe it to oneself (to do something): to be required or impelled to do something because it is in one's own interest; to deserve something (as a reward, etc.) for oneself. ΚΠ 1736 W. Popple Double Deceit v. 71 Tho' I owe you no Justification, that basely can believe so vile a thing of me, yet I owe it to myself. 1794 W. Godwin Caleb Williams II. viii. 121 I..was finally convinced that I owed it to myself to withdraw from his service. 1823 M. W. Shelley Valperga III. i. 10 She believed, that she owed it to herself to revive from the kind of moral death she had endured. 1860 W. Collins Woman in White (new ed.) III. 284 I owed it to myself to consider the chances against me, before I confronted them. 1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage xxxiii. 148 He owed it to himself to seduce her. 1992 Daily Star 16 Jan. 22/2 You owe it to yourself to let your hair down and just have some fun. P2. colloquial. to owe (someone) one, (also) to owe (someone) a big one: (a) to be beholden or indebted to someone for a favour, act of kindness, etc., done for one; (b) to bear a grudge against someone (cf. sense 4a); to desire revenge for an ill deed done against one. ΚΠ 1802 G. Colman Poor Gentleman (new ed.) i. ii. 16 Thank you, good Sir, I owe you one. 1830 J. Galt Lawrie Todd (1849) vi. i. 252 I owed him one for his shortness about family concerns. 1877 Spirit of Times 15 Dec. 532/3 His looks told him that he had got even with Ferry at last. The tables are turned. Ferry owes him ‘one’. 1975 Newsweek (Nexis) 29 Dec. 57 Do it because you owe me one... I carried you for nine months. 1984 Washington Post (Nexis) 19 Nov. a23 They suspect that they may have been among Reagan's most potent allies in his landslide reelection this year. Ironically, their private view is that he owes them a big one. 1993 J. Russell Payback (BNC) 158 I fucking owe you one... You killed my oppo. 2001 W. Ferguson Generica vii. 52 Jenni looked up from untying Edwin's shoes. ‘Owe you one, May,’ she said cheerfully. P3. the world owes one a living (and variants): one is entitled to be well supported or provided for either on account of one's merits or simply because one exists. Chiefly in negative contexts, or with explicit indication that belief in such entitlement is lazy, naive, etc. ΚΠ 1850 R. M'Sherry El Puchero xxxvi. 160 The multitude of beggars..seem to understand that the world owes them a living, which they are determined to have. 1854 Ladies' Repository May 238/2 That the ‘world owes every one a living’ is an impudent and mischievous fiction. 1867 S. Lanier Tiger-lilies ii. xii. 199 The drones, the kind who swear that the world owes them a living, but who are too lazy to collect the debt. 1918 W. Cather My Ántonia i. vii. 55 He had forgot that the world does n't owe rattlers a living. 1976 Listener 8 Apr. 426/1 No one owes us a living; we cannot beat unemployment unless we beat inflation. 1992 Making Music May 11/2 The music business doesn't owe anyone a living. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2005; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < n.OEv.OE
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† owen.

owev.

Phrases