Standard Lemma guide

creditor

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈkɹɛdɪtə/
  • US: /ˈkɹɛdɪtɚ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: K R EH1 D AH0 T ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: K R EH1 D IH0 T ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A person to whom a debt is owed.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: business, finance

Examples

  • The creditor demanded immediate payment.
  • She met with her creditors to negotiate the debt.
  • The creditor took legal action against the bankrupt company.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: debtor

2

noun

Meaning 2

One who gives credence to something; a believer.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a person to whom money is owed by a debtor; someone to whom an obligation exists

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: debtor

Broader terms: person, individual, someone, somebody, mortal, soul

Narrower terms: mortgagee, mortgage holder

History

Etymology

From Middle English creditour, from Anglo-Norman creditour, from Latin crēditor, from crēditum (“loan”), from crēditus, perfect passive participle of crēdō (“lend”).

Across languages

Translations

115 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: kreditor — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Arabic: دَائِن (dāʔin) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Armenian: պարտատեր (partater) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Armenian: վարկատու (varkatu) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Asturian: acreedor — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Asturian: acreedora — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Azerbaijani: kreditor — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Azerbaijani: borcverən — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Belarusian: крэдыто́р (kredytór) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Belarusian: крэдыто́рка (kredytórka) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Bengali: ঋণদাতা (rindata) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Bulgarian: кредито́р (kreditór) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Bulgarian: кредито́рка (kreditórka) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Burmese: ကြွေးရှင် (krwe:hrang) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Catalan: creditor — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Catalan: anglès — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Chinese Mandarin: 債權人 /债权人 (zhàiquánrén) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Chinese Mandarin: 貸方 /贷方 (dàifāng) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Chinese Mandarin: 債主 /债主 (zhàizhǔ) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Czech: věřitel — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Czech: věřitelka — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Czech: věřitelkyně — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Danish: kreditor — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Dutch: schuldeiser — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Dutch: crediteur — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Esperanto: kreditoro — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Estonian: võlausaldaja — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Finnish: velkoja — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Finnish: luotonantaja — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Finnish: lainanantaja — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • French: créancier — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • French: créancière — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Georgian: კრედიტორი (ḳrediṭori) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • German: Gläubiger — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • German: Kreditor — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Gothic: 𐌳𐌿𐌻𐌲𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍄𐌾𐌰 (dulgahaitja) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Greek: πιστωτής (pistotís) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Greek: δανειστής (daneistís) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Ancient Greek: χρήστης (khrḗstēs) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Hebrew: נוֹשֶׁה (noshé) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Hindi: ऋणदाता (ŕṇdātā) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Hindi: साहूकार (sāhūkār) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Hungarian: hitelező — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Icelandic: kröfuhafi — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Indonesian: kreditor — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Irish: cobhthach — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Italian: creditore — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Italian: creditrice — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Japanese: 債権者 (saikensha) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Japanese: 貸方 (kashikata) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Kazakh: кредитші (kreditşı) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Kazakh: несиегер (nesieger) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Khmer: ម្ចាស់បំណុល (mcah bɑmnol) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Khmer: ឥណទាយក (ʼinaʼtiəyŭək) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Korean: 채권자 (chaegwonja) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Northern Kurdish: deyndêr — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Kyrgyz: кредитор (kreditor) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Lao: ເຈົ້າຫນີ້ (chao nī) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Latin: crēditor — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Latin: crēditrix — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Latvian: kreditors — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Latvian: kreditore — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Lithuanian: kreditorius — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Lithuanian: kreditorė — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Malay: pemiutang — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Māori: kaitukunama — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Māori: kaitukumoni — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Middle English: creditour — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Middle English: creaunsour — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Norman: créditeu — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Norwegian Bokmål: kreditor — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Pannonian Rusyn: поверитель (poveritelʹ) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Pannonian Rusyn: пожичкодаватель (požičkodavatelʹ) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Pannonian Rusyn: кредитор (kreditor) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Iranian Persian: طَلَبْکار (talabkâr) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Iranian Persian: بِسْتانْکار (bestânkâr) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Iranian Persian: قَرْض دَهَنْدِه (ġarz dahande) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Iranian Persian: وامدَهَنْدِه (vâm-dahande) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Polish: wierzyciel — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Polish: wierzycielka — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Portuguese: credor — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Romanian: creditor — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Romanian: creditoare — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Russian: кредито́р (kreditór) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Russian: заимода́вец (zaimodávec) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Russian: заимода́тель (zaimodátelʹ) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Serbo-Croatian: зајмода́вац — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Serbo-Croatian: крѐдӣтор — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Serbo-Croatian: zajmodávac — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Serbo-Croatian: krèdītor — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Slovak: veriteľ — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Slovak: veriteľka — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Slovene: upnik — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Slovene: upnica — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Spanish: acreedor — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Spanish: acreedora — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Swahili: mdai — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Swahili: mkopeshaji — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Swedish: borgenär — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Swedish: fordringsägare — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Swedish: kreditor — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Tajik: қарздиҳанда (qarzdihanda) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Thai: เจ้าหนี้ (jâao-nîi) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Turkish: kreditör — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Turkish: alacaklı — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Turkish: borç veren — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Ukrainian: кредито́р (kredytór) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Ukrainian: кредито́рка (kredytórka) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Urdu: قَرْض دِہِنْدَہ (qarz dihinda) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Urdu: قَرْض خْواہْ (qarz xvāh) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Urdu: دائِن (dāin) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Uyghur: قەرز بەرگۈچى (qerz bergüchi) — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Uzbek: kreditor — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Uzbek: qarz beruvchi — a person to whom a debt is owed
  • Vietnamese: chủ nợ — a person to whom a debt is owed