Phrase guide

national debt

noun · 2 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

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1

noun

Meaning 1

Any money owed by the government of a nation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: economics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: government debt, public debt, sovereign debt

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the debt of the national government (as distinguished from the debts of individuals and businesses and political subdivisions)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: debt

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

31 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: սուվերեն պարտք (suveren partkʻ) — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Bulgarian: държавен дълг (dǎržaven dǎlg) — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Chinese Mandarin: 國債 /国债 (guózhài) — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Dutch: staatsschuld — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Esperanto: ŝtatŝuldo — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Estonian: riigivõlg — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Finnish: valtionvelka — money owed by the government of a nation
  • French: dette publique — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Georgian: სახელმწიფო ვალი (saxelmc̣ipo vali) — money owed by the government of a nation
  • German: Staatsverschuldung — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Hungarian: államadósság — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Irish: fiach náisiúnta — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Italian: debito pubblico — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Japanese: 国債 (kokusai) — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Japanese: 公債 (kōsai) — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Korean: 국채 (gukchae) — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Korean: 공채 (gongchae) — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Norwegian Bokmål: statsgjeld — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: statsgjeld — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Polish: dług publiczny — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Polish: dług państwowy — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Russian: госуда́рственный долг (gosudárstvennyj dolg) — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Russian: национа́льный долг (nacionálʹnyj dolg) — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Spanish: deuda pública — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Swahili: deni la taifa — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Swedish: statsskuld — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Ukrainian: держа́вний борг (deržávnyj borh) — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Vietnamese: nợ quốc gia — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Vietnamese: nợ chính phủ — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Vietnamese: nợ công — money owed by the government of a nation
  • Vietnamese: quốc trái — money owed by the government of a nation