debit

UK: /ˈdɛbɪt/ US: /ˈdɛbɪt/ ,(deb′it)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

deb•it /ˈdɛbɪt/   n. 

[countable]
1. the record kept of money owed or spent.
2. Business
   • Business a recorded item of debt.
   • any entry or the total shown on the debit side of an account.
   • Business the left-hand, or debit, side of an account.
3. a failing or shortcoming:
   one of the debits in that plan.

v. [ ~ + obj]

4. to charge with or as a debt:
   They debited my account for the amount I owed.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

deb•it  (deb′it), n. 

1. the recording or an entry of debt in an account.
2. Business [Bookkeeping.]
   • Business that which is entered in an account as a debt;
     a recorded item of debt.
   • any entry or the total shown on the debit side.
   • Business the left-hand side of an account on which such entries are made (opposed to credit).
3. an undesirable or disadvantageous feature.

v.t. 

4. to charge with a debt:
   The store debited her account for the purchase.
5. to charge as a debt:
   The store debited the purchase to her account.
6. Business [Bookkeeping.] to enter upon the debit side of an account.

• Latin dēbitum something owed; see debt
• Old French
• late Middle English 1400–50

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

debit / ˈdɛbɪt/ noun

1. acknowledgment of a sum owing by entry on the left side of an account
2. the left side of an account
3. an entry on this side
4. the total of such entries
5. (as modifier): a debit balance
   Compare credit10

verb ( -bits, -biting, -bited)

1. (transitive) to record (an item) as a debit in an account
2. to charge (a person or his or her account) with a debt
   

Etymology: 15th Century: from Latin dēbitum debt