I. ˈbaŋk-(ˌ)rəpt noun
Etymology: modification of Middle French & Old Italian; Middle French banqueroute bankruptcy, from Old Italian bancarotta, from banca bank + rotta broken, from Latin rupta, feminine of ruptus, past participle of rumpere to break — more at bank , reave
Date: 1533
1.
a. : a person who has done any of the acts that by law entitle creditors to have his or her estate administered for their benefit
b. : a person judicially declared subject to having his or her estate administered under the bankrupt laws for the benefit of creditors
c. : a person who becomes insolvent
2. : a person who is completely lacking in a particular desirable quality or attribute
a moral bankrupt
II. adjective
Date: 1570
1.
a. : reduced to a state of financial ruin : impoverished ; specifically : legally declared a bankrupt
the company went bankrupt
b. : of or relating to bankrupts or bankruptcy
bankrupt laws
2.
a. : broken , ruined
a bankrupt professional career
b. : exhausted of valuable qualities : sterile
a bankrupt old culture
c. : destitute — used with of or in
bankrupt of all merciful feelings
III. transitive verb
Date: 1588
1. : to reduce to bankruptcy
2. : impoverish
defections had bankrupt ed the party of its brainpower
Synonyms: see deplete