Lend Definition

lĕnd

lending, lends, lent

verb

lending, lends, lent

To let another use or have (a thing) temporarily and on condition that it, or the equivalent, be returned.

Webster's New World

To provide (money) temporarily on condition that the amount borrowed be returned, usually with an interest fee.

American Heritage

To let out (money) at interest.

Webster's New World

To make available for another's use.

The neighbors lent us help after the storm.

American Heritage

To make a loan or loans.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

Antonyms:
borrow
pay back
repay

noun

(anatomy, UK dialectal) The lumbar region; loin.

Wiktionary

(UK dialectal) (of a person or animal) The loins; flank; buttocks.

Wiktionary

idiom

lend a hand

To be of assistance.

American Heritage

lend (itself) to

To accommodate or offer itself to; be suitable for:

American Heritage

lend itself to

to be adapted to, useful for, or open to

Webster's New World

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Lend

Origin of Lend

From earlier len (with excrescent -d, as in sound, round, etc.), from Middle English lenen, lænen, from Old English lÇ£nan (“to lend; give, grant, lease"), from Proto-Germanic *laihnijanÄ… (“to loan"), from Proto-Germanic *laihnÄ… (“loan"), from Proto-Indo-European *leykÊ·- (“to leave, leave over"). Cognate with Scots len, lend (“to lend"), West Frisian liene (“to lend, borrow, loan"), Dutch lenen (“to lend, borrow, loan"), German lehnen (“to borrow, lend out, loan"), Swedish lÃ¥na (“to lend, loan"), Icelandic lána (“to lend, loan"), Icelandic léna (“to grant"), Latin linquō (“quit, leave, forlet"), Ancient Greek λείπω (léipō, “leave, release"). See also loan.

From Wiktionary
From Middle English lende (usually in plural as lendes, leendes, lyndes), from Old English lendenu, lendinu (“loins", plural), from Proto-Germanic *landijō, *landį̄ (“loin"), from Proto-Indo-European *lendÊ°- (“loin, kidney"). Cognate with Scots lend, leynd (“the loins, flank, buttocks"), Dutch lendenen (“loins, reins"), German Lenden (“loins"), Swedish länder (“loins"), Icelandic lendar (“loins"), Latin lumbus (“loin"), Russian лядвея (ljádveja, “thigh, haunch").

From Wiktionary
Middle English lenden alteration of lenen (on the model of such verbs as senden to send) (whose past participle sent rhymed with lent) (past participle of lenen) from Old English lǣnan leikw- in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition