From Middle English owen, from Old English āgan, from Proto-West Germanic *aigan, from Proto-Germanic *aiganą, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eh₂óyḱe, reduplicated stative of *h₂eyḱ-.

Cognate with Sanskrit ईष्टे.

• (British) IPA: /əʊ/
• (America) enPR: ō, IPA: /oʊ/

owe (owes, present participle owing; simple past and past participle owed)

1. (ditransitive) To be under an obligation to give something back to someone or to perform some action for someone.

   I owe Kevin five bucks which he lent to me last week.

   This time I'll cover for you, but now you owe me a favour.

   • 1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], Act I ↗:

     VVe owe God a death, and we can but die:

   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act I, scene i]:

     […] To you, Antonio,
     I owe the most, in money and in love;
     And from your love I have a warranty
     To unburden all my plots and purposes
     How to get clear of all the debts I owe.

   • 1854, Charles Dickens, chapter 7, in Hard Times. For These Times, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], →OCLC ↗:

     He inherited a fair fortune from his uncle, but owed it all before he came into it, and spent it twice over immediately afterwards.

2. (intransitive) To have debt; to be in debt.
3. (transitive) To have as a cause; used with to.

   The record owes its success to the outstanding guitar solos.

• French: devoir
• German: schulden, schuldig sein
• Italian: dovere
• Portuguese: dever
• Russian: быть должен
• Spanish: deber, adeudar

• French: devoir
• German: schulden, schuldig sein
• Italian: dovere, essere in debito
• Portuguese: dever
• Russian: (predicative) до́лжен
• Spanish: estar en deuda, deber, adeudar