Word of the Day

: April 30, 2007

usance

noun YOO-zuns

What It Means

1 : firmly established and generally accepted practice or procedure : usage

2 : use, employment

3 : interest

4 : the time allowed by custom for payment of a bill of exchange in foreign commerce

usance in Context

"Make an investment of any spare monies as may render some usance." (Lord Byron)

Did You Know?

"Usance" was borrowed from Latin in the 14th century as a word meaning "habit" or "custom." In the late 16th century, its worth was compounded when it became a word for both the lending of money at interest and the interest charged. Both meanings were known to Shakespeare when he was writing The Merchant of Venice (1596). "He lends out money gratis, and brings down [t]he rate of usance here with us in Venice," says the usurer Shylock of the protagonist Antonio. And, later in the play, Shylock tells how Antonio has "rated . . . about [his] moneys and [his] usances." Unexplainably, the currency of these uses plummeted shortly after appearing in the play, only to be revived in the 19th century.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.