/ ləʊn; NAmE loʊn/ noun , verb
■ noun
1.
[ C ] money that an organization such as a bank lends and sb borrows :
to take out / repay a loan (= to borrow money / pay it back)
bank loans with low interest rates
It took three years to repay my student loan (= money lent to a student) .
a car loan (= a loan to buy a car)
2.
[ sing. ] loan (of sth) the act of lending sth; the state of being lent :
I even gave her the loan of my car.
an exhibition of paintings on loan (= borrowed) from private collections
■ verb
1.
loan sth (to sb) | loan (sb) sth ( especially NAmE ) to lend sth to sb, especially money :
[ vn ]
The bank is happy to loan money to small businesses.
[ vnn ]
A friend loaned me $1 000.
2.
loan sth (out) (to sb/sth) | loan (sb) sth ( especially BrE ) to lend a valuable object to a museum, etc. :
[ vn ]
This exhibit was kindly loaned by the artist's family.
[ vnn ]
He loaned the museum his entire collection.
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WORD ORIGIN
Middle English (also denoting a gift from a superior): from Old Norse lán , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch leen , German Lehn , also to lend .