debt n.

active word-forming element in English and in many verbs inherited from French and Latin, from Latin de "down, down from, from, off; concerning" (see de), also used as a prefix in Latin, usually meaning "down, off, away, from among, down from," but also "down to the bottom, totally" hence "completely" (intensive or completive), which is its sense in many English words.

As a Latin prefix it also had the function of undoing or reversing a verb's action, and hence it came to be used as a pure privative — "not, do the opposite of, undo" — which is its primary function as a living prefix in English, as in defrost (1895), defuse (1943), de-escalate (1964), etc. In some cases, a reduced form of dis-.

also *ghebh-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to give or receive." The basic sense of the root probably is "to hold," which can be either in offering or in taking.

It forms all or part of: able; avoirdupois; binnacle; cohabit; cohabitation; debenture; debit; debt; dishabille; due; duty; endeavor; exhibit; exhibition; forgive; gavel; gift; give; habeas corpus; habiliment; habit; habitable; habitant; habitat; habitation; habitual; habituate; habituation; habitude; habitue; inhabit; inhibit; inhibition; malady; prebend; prohibit; prohibition; provender.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit gabhasti- "hand, forearm;" Latin habere "to have, hold, possess," habitus "condition, demeanor, appearance, dress;" Old Irish gaibim "I take, hold, I have," gabal "act of taking;" Lithuanian gabana "armful," gabenti "to remove;" Gothic gabei "riches;" Old English giefan, Old Norse gefa "to give."

late 14c., endetted "owing money, liable for borrowed money," past participle of endetten "to indebt, oblige," from Old French endeter "to involve in debt, run into debt," from en- "in" (from PIE root *en "in") + dete "debt" (see debt). Figurative sense of "under obligation for favors or services" first attested 1560s. Spelling re-Latinized in English from 16c. The verb indebt is now rare or obsolete. Related: Indebtedness. Latin indebitus meant "not owed, not due."