creditor

noun

cred·​i·​tor ˈkre-di-tər 

-ˌtȯr

: one to whom a debt is owed

especially : a person to whom money or goods are due

Examples of creditor in a Sentence

She owes thousands of dollars to creditors.

Recent Examples on the Web

Collectively, more than 80 creditors were owed almost$700,000. —Martin McKenzie-Murray, SPIN, 7 Jan. 2025

In addition, creditors will no longer be able to use certain medical information for lending decisions. —Lorie Konish, CNBC, 7 Jan. 2025

The creditors can be aggressive: family homes can be subjected to foreclosure, and plots of land are sometimes turned over as collateral. —Jordan Salama, The New Yorker, 6 Jan. 2025

There are the insolvency courts in Germany, where Lilium is based, to deal with as well as creditors and the like, not to mention restructuring the company for a restart. —David Szondy, New Atlas, 5 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

creditor

noun

cred·​i·​tor ˈkred-ət-ər 

: a person to whom a debt is owed

Legal Definition

creditor

noun

cred·​i·​tor ˈkre-də-tər, -ˌtȯr 

: a person to whom a debt is owed

especially : a person to whom money or goods are due compare debtor, obligor

— general creditor

: a creditor who is not secured by a lien or other security interest

called also unsecured creditor

— judgment creditor

: a creditor who has a money judgment entered against the debtor and may enforce the judgment (as by attachment or writ of execution)

— known creditor

: a creditor whose potential claim is known or should be known by a debtor and who is entitled to notice of a corporate dissolution or of a date at which claims will be barred (as in bankruptcy)

— lien creditor

: a creditor who is secured by a lien (as by attachment)

— secured creditor

: a creditor who has a security interest (as a mortgage)

— unsecured creditor

: general creditor in this entry