Owed
/oʊd/noun
Past tense and past participle of owe, meaning to be under obligation to pay or repay.
Did you know?Owe and its relatives go back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning “to possess,” showing how debt language grew out of the idea of something held or due.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₃ep-
“to have, possess”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*aiganan / *aiganą
“to possess, own”
Old English
English
āgan
“to possess, own, have”
Old English
English
āgan → āgde
“past tense form meaning owned, possessed”
Middle English
English
owen / ought
“to owe, be under obligation”
Modern English
English
owed
“was under obligation to pay or repay”