Category:Borrow

Bor"row, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Borrowed; p. pr. & vb. n. Borrowing.] Etym: [OE. borwen, AS. borgian, fr. borg, borh, pledge; akin to D. borg, G. borg; prob. fr. root of AS. beorgan to protect. Borough.]

1. To receive from another as a loan, with the implied or expressed intention of returning the identical article or its equivalent in kind; -- the opposite of lend.

2. (Arith.)

Defn: To take (one or more) from the next higher denomination in order to add it to the next lower; -- a term of subtraction when the figure of the subtrahend is larger than the corresponding one of the minuend.

3. To copy or imitate; to adopt; as, to borrow the style, manner, or opinions of another. Rites borrowed from the ancients. Macaulay. 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. Milton.

4. To feign or counterfeit. "Borrowed hair." Spenser. The borrowed majesty of England. Shak.

5. To receive; to take; to derive. Any drop thou borrowedst from thy mother. Shak. To borrow trouble, to be needlessly troubled; to be overapprehensive.

Borrow Bor"row, n.

1. Something deposited as security; a pledge; a surety; a hostage. [Obs.] Ye may retain as borrows my two priests. Sir W. Scott.

2. The act of borrowing. [Obs.] Of your royal presence I'll adventure The borrow of a week. Shak.

- ---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Borrow - The Israelites "borrowed" from the Egyptians (Exodus 12:35, R.V., "asked") in accordance with a divine command (Exodus 3:22; Exodus 11:2). But the word ( sha'al ) so rendered here means simply and always to "request" or "demand." The Hebrew had another word which is properly translated "borrow" in Deuteronomy 28:12; Psalms 37:21. It was well known that the parting was final. The Egyptians were so anxious to get the Israelites away out of their land that "they let them have what they asked" (Exodus 12:36, R.V.), or literally "made them to ask," urged them to take whatever they desired and depart. (See LOAN.)