Debit

Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash

debit — the recording of debt in an account

débito — the Spanish cognate of the same meaning

Nowadays, most people are familiar with “debit” cards and may or may not understand why they are called that. Essentially, you are causing a “debt” to be made each time you use one. It’s the word “debt” that I want to focus on today.

Before I do that, though, let’s look at “debit” and “débito.” This cognate duo comes from Latin’s debitum which means “debt.”

What is a “debt?” Basically, it’s an obligation to pay something. I tend to think that each time I use my “debit” card I am putting myself into “debt” to myself.

That Latin word of debitum comes from the Latin verb of debēre which means “to owe.”

Spanish uses the verb “deber” to mean “to owe” in reference to money, but they also use it to mean that someone “ought” to do something. In English we have the verb “ought” that comes to us from Old English and into Middle English when it took on the sense of “being obliged to do something” even while also meaning “to owe.”

Thus in Spanish, I could say “Debo practicar” for “I ought to practice.” Generally, when students are learning Spanish, they are taught that “deber” is understood as “should,” so the aforementioned sentence could also translate to “I should practice.”

The problem with that, in my opinion, is that students then have a very hard time understanding “deber” as “to owe (a debt or money)” because that doesn’t seem to correlate with “should.” The concept of “should” comes up early in Spanish textbooks because it’s a common thing to say in conversation or in planning things. (I should study, I should work, I should sleep, etc.) The concept of “owing” money doesn’t come up in textbooks until much later, often not until a second or even third year of Spanish study.

It should (ought to) come up sooner, though. I think you can see the connection between the Spanish word of “deber” and our word of “debt,” and understanding that both point to an “obligation” or a debt to oneself makes learning and remembering the multifaceted usages of “deber” easier.

The Spanish word for “debt” is “deuda.” It comes from Old Spanish “debda” which still retained that letter “b” in it that came from Latin’s debitum. Somewhere along the way, it underwent a spelling change, so in its current form, it doesn’t appear to be a cognate to “debt,” but it actually is.

Until next time. If any of you would care to help me with my “debt,” please upgrade to Paid. Thanks. If you are already a paid subscriber, continue below to see more examples of this week’s words in use.

Tammy Marshall