borrow

name

1. A surname.

   “George Borrow wrote novels and travelogues based on his experiences travelling around Europe.”

noun

Etymology: From Middle English borwe, borgh, from Old English borh, borg, from Proto-West Germanic *borgōn, from Proto-Germanic *burgōną (“to borrow, lend”) (related to Etymology 1, above).

1. A ransom; a pledge or guarantee.
2. A surety; someone standing bail.

   “”where am I to find such a sum? If I sell the very pyx and candlesticks on the altar at Jorvaulx, I shall scarce raise the half; and it will be necessary for that purpose that I go to Jorvaulx myself; ye may retain as borrows my two priests.””

verb

Etymology: From Middle English borwen, from Old English borgian (“to borrow, lend, pledge surety for”), from Proto-West Germanic *borgōn, from Proto-Germanic *burgōną (“to pledge, take care of”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰergʰ- (“to take care”). Cognate with Dutch borgen (“to borrow, trust”), German borgen (“to borrow, lend”), Danish borge (“to vouch”). Related to Old English beorgan (“to save, preserve”). More at bury.

1. To receive (something) from somebody temporarily, expecting to return it.

   “Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close. This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms. Those that want to borrow are matched with those that want to lend.”

2. To receive money from a bank or other lender under the agreement that the lender will be paid back over time.
3. To adopt (an idea) as one's own.

   “to borrow the style, manner, or opinions of another”

   “It is not hard for any man, who hath a Bible in his hands, to borrow good words and holy sayings in abundance; but to make them his own is a work of grace only from above.”

4. To adopt a word from another language.

   “Americans, for example, call newcomers to Antarctica “fingies”, which comes from FNGs – a borrowed military abbreviation that means “Fucking New Guy”.”

5. In a subtraction, to deduct (one) from a digit of the minuend and add ten to the following digit, in order that the subtraction of a larger digit in the subtrahend from the digit in the minuend to which ten is added gives a positive result.
6. To lend.

   ““Rosie, borrow me your look looker, I bet my lips are all. Everytime^([sic]) I eat or drink, so quick I gotta fix ’em, yet.””

   “Johari Salleh: Ya, ya. Better not waste time. Must prepare, tomorrow morning got inspection. Teo Ah Beng: Ya lah, must kiwi [polish] the boots. Can borrow me your cloth? Krishnamoorthy: Ya, no problem. You better kiwi quickly. 11 pm lights off. […]”

7. To temporarily obtain (something) for (someone).

   “You must borrow me Garagantua's mouth first: 'tis a word too great for any mouth of this age's size: To say, ay, and no, to these particulars, is more than to answer in a catechism.”

   “Yes, my lord, he told me this in my own house; and I told him he might go to esquire Tindal, and I lent him eighteen pence, and borrowed him a horse in the town.”

8. To feign or counterfeit.

   “borrowed hair”

   “the borrowed majesty of England”

9. To secure the release of (someone) from prison.

   “But if ony maiden would borrow me, I would wed her wi' a ring, And a' my land and a' my houses, They should a' be at her command.”

10. To receive (something, usually of trifling value) from somebody, with little possibility of returning it.

    “Can I borrow a sheet of paper?”

11. To interrupt the current activity of (a person) and lead them away in order to speak with them, get their help, etc.

    “John, can I borrow you for a second? I need your help with the copier.”

12. To adjust one's aim in order to compensate for the slope of the green.